NEWS
Follow UsAfter convincingly losing their opening encounter to South Africa, Sri Lanka aimed to correct the wrongs against Bangladesh but instead suffered another gut-wrenching loss. Batters found it extremely difficult to get going at the Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas and scored just 124. Even though the bowlers showed resistance, it was never going to be enough as Bangladesh scampered their way to a two-wicket win.
Could this have been blamed on the lack of preparations? As a matter of fact, Sri Lanka were the first team to arrive in the United States for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 as early as May 20 and had sufficient time to acclimatize to the conditions. However, as Sri Lanka’s team manager Mahinda Halangode explained, they never really got a chance due to consistent rain in North Carolina.
“The conditions and I think the pitches were actually totally different from what I meant. When you are saying the conditions, yes, we came early. We were in North Carolina and in a place called Morrisville. But unfortunately, we couldn't practice actually the entire period because it rained,” Halangode said in the post-match press conference.
“And the wickets there actually were not up to standard. And we found it a bit difficult. I won't say that this defeat is because of that, but definitely, when you look at the wickets in the US, I think you can see that there are low scores. So, the batsmen definitely have to adapt to the conditions and actually get a decent total so that the bowlers can hold and try to win the game.”
Then why didn’t Sri Lanka base themselves in either Florida, Dallas or New York to prepare better? Especially considering the aforementioned three cities have better practice facilities available.
“We actually tried to do it, but unfortunately all those grounds were not available. We did contact the US Cricket Association and they are the ones who helped us to find a place in North Carolina because all the other places were fully booked, and unfortunately, we were trying to play a series with the US team.
"Unfortunately, Bangladesh had already had an opportunity to play against them. Because of that, we had to go to North Carolina.”
Sri Lanka’s Nuwan Thushara was at his absolute best with the ball - implementing the knowledge he gained by playing for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League 2024. His four wickets acted as a huge resistance for Bangladesh. Thushara believed that having 20 more runs to defend would have been great for Sri Lanka.
“I think India’s wickets were very different. Those had higher scores and it was hard to bowl there. So, I think it was easier for me to put what I learnt there to this match, as in how to handle the pressure and things like that,” Thushara said in the press conference.
“Yes, the pitch was a difficult one and it was hard for the batters. We were just 20 runs short. If we could have scored those 20 extra runs, we could have won this match. But we did our best for 120 too as we wanted to win this match somehow. We played till the last ball, thinking that we could win this match.”
Sri Lanka are virtually out of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 as of now, with two losses from two games. They now play Nepal at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground in Florida on June 12 before taking on the Netherlands at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in St Lucia on June 17.
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