Sri Lanka's big 'upset', Lahiru Kumara's spirit animal & the difficulty of going back-to-back
The big takeaways from Sri Lanka's win vs England, a special on Lahiru Kumara & the ill-fated 1999 title defense
What did we learn from the win against England?
By Mark Machado
On Thursday, Sri Lanka beat reigning World Champions England in Bengaluru at what felt like a canter. The early part of the tournament had been a challenge for the Sri Lanka side, but after two wins on the bounce it feels like Sri Lanka have finally picked up a bit of momentum.
So what did we learn from the win?
Lahiru Kumara can be a World Class bowler. Kumara has been in and around the Sri Lanka setup for a few years now, injuries and dips in form have meant that he’s been in and out of the team. But on his day, and yesterday was his day, he can cause batters real problems with his serious pace. His spell against Australia in Perth in last year’s T20 World Cup was brilliant, but didn’t yield any wickets, he got 3 wickets and the Player of the Match award yesterday.
Kusal Mendis has risen to the captaincy. His three game tenure has seen two wins and the biggest difference feels like it’s come when Sri Lanka are bowling. Sri Lanka are playing attacking cricket and Mendis isn’t afraid to extend bowling spells and take bowlers off when they aren’t having a good time. It seems simple but it’s a flexibility that Sri Lanka haven’t had for a while and it’s needed to get the most out of an attack that can be fragile.
Sadeera Samarawickrama has cemented his place in the team and is Sri Lanka’s form batter. Pathum Nissanka deserves an honourable mention here too but unlike Sadeera, I don’t think there was much conversation about his place in the team.
Bringing Angelo Mathews back into the side worked. I’m not sure the other teams will be losing sleep about his bowling… but he’s here for his batting.
England were not just terrible but for the fifth time in five world cups they have underestimated Sri Lanka… compounded by English pundits claiming it’s an ‘upset’.
Lots of positives to take for Sri Lanka, two back to back wins has left a flicker of hope for the World Cup Campaign. Sri Lanka are finally in gear, but if they are to make a run to the semi-final they are going to have to find more gears to go up.
Kumara the Meeharaka
In the months leading up to Sri Lanka’s World Cup campaign, there was much talk about the team’s plentiful and varied fast bowling riches in the 50-over format. Commentators and fans alike gushed about the experience and skill of Dushmantha Chameera, the slingy action of Matheesha Pathirana, and the left-arm angle of Dilshan Madushanka.
Oft forgotten in these discussions was arguably Sri Lanka’s most destructive fast bowler, Lahiru Kumara. And if you forgot about his seriously menacing pace before his 3/35 against the defending World Champions yesterday, you can be forgiven. Because the selectors, at least in 50-overs cricket, have largely forgotten about him too. In fact, Kumara did not play a single ODI match for more than three years, going unpicked for a span of 26 games from 2019 to 2022.
You’d think that a 26-year-old bowler who can touch 150 kph, with a mean bouncer and nasty attitude would be one of the first names on the team sheet for any international one-day side, but such has not been the case of Kumara. Maybe this is because Kumara is not what we have come to expect from a typical Sri Lankan fast bowler.
Rather, Kumara conjures one of the largest herbivores in the country, the meeharaka (water buffalo, for those not in the know). In stark contrast to the island’s usual tall and waifish species of fast bowlers, Kumara possesses strong shoulders, a wide chest, and thick lower body. He does not rhythmically lilt towards the crease in his run-up. He bounds and bustles, delivering the ball with a final powerful gallop instead of a graceful leap. He grunts, snorts, and snarls at his opponents, raising the pitch of each of these guttural tones whenever he makes a breakthrough.
Kumara in his element, a fierce celebration of the wicket of Jos Buttler
A charging meeharaka with its tail-up is a destructive bundle of brute force. And, indeed, since his debut as a 19-year-old, Kumara has shown the talent to run through sides. His first international wicket was the great Hashim Amla, as he bowled his way to a standout five-for in only his second first-class match. He was brutally effective against the West Indies in 2018 when he took 17 wickets in just three tests at a shade under 20. His high pace laid waste to the Associate sides that the Lankans faced in the qualifiers of the 2021 T20 World Cup and, more recently, both David Warner and Glenn Maxwell have become more than acquainted with the brutishness of his bowling.
But as any observer of a water buffalo charge will tell you, their rampages have serious collateral damage. Brush, shrubbery, small animals — really anything that gets in the way — can be laid waste. In the case of Kumara, his aggressive brand of bowling has sometimes come at the cost of his own team. Wayward and expensive overs, filled with wides, no-balls, and hit-me deliveries, like the final over he delivered with 15 to defend against South Africa in a must-win match in the 2021 T20 World Cup, have been all too common for a man of his talent.
There is often another unwitting victim of the frenzy of a meeharaka charge — the animal itself. Thanks to Newton’s second law, exerting that much force often comes at quite a cost. Kumara knows this predicament all too well. He has had his fair share of soft tissue injuries over the years. He missed the second half of this year’s World Cup qualifiers and all of the Asia Cup with a side strain and he has had recurrent issues with his hamstring and groin. Indeed, it is all too common a sight for a Sri Lankan cricket fan to see him hobbling off the ground after breaking down mid-match.
In the match against England yesterday, Kumara was at his bulldozing best. He stampeded his way through a powerful England middle-order. He charged through Jos Butler’s defenses on multiple occasions before eventually getting him to nick a wider one to the keeper. He followed that up by pinning Liam Livingstone in front of his stumps with a vicious inducker. The final coup de grace was a well-directed bouncer to remove the ever dangerous Ben Stokes for 43.
Kumara’s Player of the Match performance yesterday was not an aberration. He has been fantastic in ODIs over the past twelve months. In his last fifteen one-day matches, he has an average of less than 25 while striking once every 25 balls. While Mendis used him as a middle over enforcer in the mold of Mark Wood or Haris Rauf yesterday, that is not the only trick that Kumara knows. In that same span, he has bowled very effectively in the powerplay as well, getting a wicket every 18 balls he bowls. For reference, that’s the same frequency with which powerplay maven Dilshan Madushanka has struck in the same period, a rate that ranks as the best in the world over the last year.
It would be a mistake to assume that Kumara will not continue to be expensive on occasion or break down from time to time. But it would be an even bigger mistake to not make proper use of a homegrown bowler who can bulldoze and stampede his way through batting lineups for years to come.
Sri Lanka’s ill-fated title defense in 1999
By Nick Brookes
Winning back-to-back World Cups is hard. Just ask England – who after a punishing loss to Sri Lanka, need a bona fide miracle to make it to the tournament’s final four. A plague of locusts could swarm India’s hotel, a bad bout of food poisoning could strike down Australia – in all likelihood, it still wouldn’t be enough to see England through.
Only two sides in the history of cricket have managed a World Cup two-peat: the mighty West Indian team of the late 1970s; and the turn-of-the-century Australians, who went one better and bagged three trophies on the bounce. In football, it hasn’t happened since 1962. More often than not, defending champions – or teams ‘attacking’ another trophy, if you subscribe to Buttler-speak – have fallen flat. Don’t look so shocked; we’ve seen this all before.
Indeed, England’s campaign has been eerily similar to another infamous title defence: Sri Lanka’s legendary misfire in 1999. Let’s wind the clock back – and try and put our finger on exactly what went wrong for Ranatunga’s team.
Arjuna Ranatunga was sacked after the 1999 Cricket World Cup after a dismal display by Sri Lanka
Naturally, the problems started before Sri Lanka boarded their flight to England. Going into the tournament, they’d lost 15 of their last 20. Nonetheless, a Cricinfo preview reckoned:
“[T]heir experienced team will be hard to beat. Their spin attack and thrilling attacking batting proved effective in sub-continental conditions, and in England in late 1998, but different techniques are likely to prove important in May and June. Much will depend on the ability of the batsmen to adapt to the seaming and swinging ball, and that of the seam attack to exploit favourable conditions.”
Sadly, the selectors missed the memo. A tournament held in the early English ‘summer’ demanded a different approach to one played out on dustier South Asian tracks. But 11 of the ‘96 squad remained in place, while the other changes were essentially like-for-like. It’s hard to understand the logic of picking three specialist spinners – especially with Sanath and Aravinda there to offer handy part-timers.
That excess meant Sri Lanka could only find room for three frontline quicks – less even than India. England had eight seam-bowling options in their 15, Australia seven. Sri Lanka, meanwhile left Nuwan Zoysa, Suresh Perera, Ravindra Pushpakumara and Ruchira Perera at home – and some reckoned Eric Upashantha was only there to carry the bags. Rumours swirled that Arjuna and Aravinda stormed out of a pre-tournament selection meeting. De Silva, who’d shivered his way through the early-summer gloom during a season with Kent in 1995, must have known the balance was off.
The misstep was hammered home during the warm-ups, where 23 of the 28 wickets Sri Lanka took fell to pace. Although the team arrived in England two weeks early, they wasted the days playing joke games at village ground in Leicester. A four-man coaching team didn’t seem to be on the same page; even the usually commanding Ranatunga lacked his trademark decisiveness.
At 21, Jayawardene was the Harry Brook of the group. He was the only real find since the last World Cup – and what a discovery he’d already proven. Yet come the opening match, he was left out of the side. Upashantha too. Sri Lanka would only be able to call on 20 overs of pace.
Mahela knew the balance was wrong, and decided to speak up on the eve of the match. No doubt, there were raised eyebrows about the side’s junior-most player talking so candidly – Vaas and Murali half-joked he might find himself on the next flight home – but the selectors saw his point. Upashantha would play.
It made little difference. Sri Lanka laboured to 204 under heavy skies; after lunch, the sun came out – and England breezed past their target. From the start, the Lankan defence had the feel of a tricky sophomore album.
The shortfall of seamers was exacerbated by a dogged refusal to play Hathurusinghe – the only genuine seam-bowling allrounder in the squad. He was penned in to play against the Proteas but D.S. de Silva encouraged a last-minute change of tack – suggesting South Africa couldn’t play leg spin.
In hindsight, that hunch looks horrendous. Vaas and Wickramasinghe reduced South Africa to 69-5, but with Upashantha dropped there was no one to finish the job. Lance Klusener dragged his team up to 199; far too many for Sri Lanka. South Africa’s embarrassment of seam-bowling riches – Pollock, Kallis, Elworthy, Donald and Klusener – highlighted how badly Sri Lanka had got it wrong. After two matches, they were already essentially out of the tournament.
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While the lack of quicks was the most glaring problem, it was far from the only issue. In ‘96, Sri Lanka put full faith in a clear game plan; three years later, they were riddled with indecision. It started at the top, where they couldn’t decide whether to blast from the start, or show the new ball respect. Mahanama opened against England, Kaluwitharana against South Africa – and the duo continued to yo-yo for the rest of the tournament. Neither got the chance to face the new ball in consecutive matches.
Of course, the whole batting unit underperformed. Sanath and Aravinda struggled badly – averaging 16.40 and 14.60 respectively. Vaas topped the batting averages, only Atapattu managed two 50s. No single score surpassed Kaluwitharana’s rearguard 57 on the opening day. Given the class, depth and experience in the batting lineup, this was a huge disappointment – regardless of the conditions.
Worse was still to come. At Taunton, Dravid and Ganguly pounded India up to 373 – before Robin Singh ripped the heart out of Sri Lanka’s chase with his part-time seamers. This was the kind of brutal beatdown Arjuna & co. were used to dishing out; it was a chastening day that marked the end of the road for the island’s first golden generation.
Sri Lanka limped out of the tournament, with just a pair of wins over Zimbabwe and Kenya. There was always going to be hell to pay: apparently, nine of the squad delayed their return home, fearing the ire of their countrymen. Ranatunga was promptly sacked as captain; he, Aravinda, Tillakaratne and Mahanama – mainstays since the ‘80s – were all dumped from the side.
Much like England of 2023, Sri Lanka failed to evolve or adapt in the years after winning the World Cup. Both teams swaggered into their title defences, seemingly thinking all they had to do was turn up. Both were underprepared: where their championship runs were underpinned by defined strategy and clarity of thought, both slipped into chaos and indecision when the wheels came off their defences. It’s hard to escape the nagging sense that both teams’ failures stem partially from carelessness, from the nonchalance that comes with being branded the world’s best side.
Perhaps England can take heart from what happened next for Sri Lanka. Sanath Jayasuriya assumed the captaincy – and over the course of the noughties, Sri Lanka were well and truly revitalised, transforming into an even more menacing outfit.
Nonetheless, almost three decades on from ‘96, the island is still waiting for another World Cup trophy. England will hope they can reclaim the silverware sooner. But winning World Cups isn’t easy. They might just come to look back on 2023 as a costly missed opportunity.