Sri Lanka’s crushing 10-wicket loss to India in the recently concluded ACC Men’s Asia Cup 2023 final should help the team learn lessons for the ODI World Cup, coach Chris Silverwood said Sunday.
The home team were bowled out for just 50 in 15.2 overs with Indian fast bowler Mohammed Siraj ripping through the Sri Lankan batting with his 6-21 in Colombo.
Sri Lanka were playing their 11th Asia Cup final but the 116-minute humiliation left the fans disappointed and coach Silverwood said he hoped it would be a blessing in disguise.
“Sometimes a bit of a kick up the rear end is not the worst thing going into a World Cup,” Silverwood told reporters.
“Maybe this is just a wake-up call, that for us to compete against teams like India, Australia, and New Zealand – those types of guys – we have to be on top of our game.
He said, “Maybe there’s something we can use out of this that can motivate us heading into that World Cup.”
Sri Lanka, who have made the ODI World Cup starting October 5 in India after playing the qualifiers, went in as underdogs in the Asia Cup 2023.
But what unfolded in the Asia Cup final was unexpected as Dasun Shanaka’s Sri Lanka fell like a pack of cards after they elected to bat first.
“Clearly it was a bad day in the office. Clearly, we came up against a very high-class bowling unit,” said Silverwood.
“It was a shame to finish the way we did. It’s one of those things we can’t dwell on too much because we’ve got a big tournament coming up. There are lessons to learn and questions to be asked in the dressing room.”
Sri Lanka overcame an inconsistent showing at the start of the Asia Cup and sneaked into the Super Fours with a dramatic win over Afghanistan.
Fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana and left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage stood out for Sri Lanka with 21 wickets between them and Silverwood counted them as positives from the tournament.
“We played some very good cricket to get to the final. We had to fight very hard. For me it was an achievement,” said Silverwood.
“But if we take today out of the equation, we’ve seen two youngsters put their hands up, in Dunith Wellalage, and Matheesha Pathirana. We’ve seen two of them really put up their hands on the world stage.”
He added, “Sadeera (Samarawickrama) played some good knocks. (Kusal) Mendis has come back into form. But clearly consistency is something we need to bring into the game.”
Notably, Sri Lanka’s 50-run total is now the lowest total in the Asia Cup history, breaking the previous record held by Bangladesh, who were dismissed for 87 runs against Pakistan in 2000.
Furthermore, Sri Lanka’s 50-run total is the lowest in men’s ODI history in a tournament final. It is also the third time this year that Sri Lanka have been bowled out for less than a hundred in ODIs.
Sri Lanka will start their World Cup campaign against South Africa in Delhi on October 7.
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