Sri Lanka Can Win; So Why Don’t They?

Sri Lanka Can Win; So Why Don’t They?

By Leonard Ratnayake from England

There are defeats in cricket that can be explained by superior opposition, difficult conditions or simply a better team winning on the day. And then there are defeats that leave you asking a much more uncomfortable question.

A team that bowled England out for 265 had every opportunity to win. Instead, Sri Lanka collapsed to 176, raising uncomfortable questions about concentration, temperament and the hunger to finish the job.

At the Banks Homes Riverside on Tuesday, Sri Lanka did almost everything required to put themselves in a position to beat England. They bowled England out for 265. They removed England’s leading batsmen. They introduced a young leg-spinner, Sachindu Colombage, to international cricket and watched him respond with an impressive three wickets for 44 runs. Asitha Fernando claimed three wickets.

Harry Brook, who top-scored with 67, and Will Jacks, who made 46, were unable to take England to the sort of total that could have put the game beyond Sri Lanka. England were all out in 48.1 overs.

Sri Lanka had 50 overs to score 266. It was not an enormous target. It was not an impossible chase. It was a chase that demanded discipline, patience and a willingness to stay in the game. Instead, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 176 in 37 overs. England won by 89 runs. And that is where the frustration begins.

Last week, questions have been raised about Sri Lanka’s performances in England. The three-match T20 international series had been particularly alarming. England won all three matches, including victories by 119 runs, six wickets and eight wickets. The defeats exposed repeated weaknesses in Sri Lanka’s batting and their inability to sustain pressure with the ball.

But Tuesday’s ODI told a different story. Sri Lanka’s bowlers showed that they could compete. They showed that England’s batting line-up could be contained. They showed that young Sri Lankan players could step onto an international stage and make an impact.

Colombage’s debut was particularly encouraging. The 22-year-old leg-spinner dismissed Joe Root and Jos Buttler among his three wickets as Sri Lanka repeatedly disrupted England’s innings.

This matters because the argument that Sri Lanka simply do not possess enough talent becomes difficult to sustain when the same players can restrict England to 265. The ability is there. The question is what happens to it once the game begins to turn. Chasing 266, Sri Lanka needed to do something relatively simple. Bat. Stay there. Build partnerships. Take the game deep. Instead, the innings became a procession.

Sri Lanka were 101 for five by the 25th over. Kusal Mendis fought for 42 from 60 balls, but the wickets kept coming. Dunith Wellalage provided a late burst with 45 from only 36 deliveries, but by then the chase had effectively slipped away. Then came Will Jacks. The England all-rounder turned a Sri Lankan collapse into a rout. The final Sri Lankan wicket fell with the score on 176. Game over.

This is what makes the defeat particularly difficult to digest. Sri Lanka had already done the hard part. They had kept England to 265. The target was 266. They needed approximately 5.3 runs an over. That is entirely manageable in modern ODI cricket. Instead, they were dismissed 13 overs before the scheduled end of their innings. That is not merely a failure to score runs. It is a failure to sustain the chase.

But this is bigger than one defeat. The more worrying issue is the way Sri Lanka repeatedly lose control of games. They can look excellent for a period. Then ordinary. Then excellent again. Then suddenly disappear. That inconsistency is becoming more than an occasional bad day. It is becoming a characteristic.

So, where is the sustained hunger? No one outside the dressing room can say that Sri Lankan players do not want to win. That would be unfair. Professional cricketers do not reach international level without ambition. But cricket is not won by wanting victory for a few overs. It is won by remaining committed to the contest when the game becomes difficult. That is where Sri Lanka need to ask themselves some serious questions.

Perhaps this is what makes Sri Lankan cricket so difficult to understand. They remain capable of producing moments that remind everyone of what this team can be. It is not enough to possess talent. International cricket demands that talent be converted into disciplined performances. And disciplined performances must be converted into victories. Sri Lanka are struggling at the first transition from talent to consistency.

There will inevitably be discussion about administration. There have been arguments about selection, coaching, governance and accountability. For this, there has been political interference and interim governance in Sri Lankan cricket over the years. Those debates have their place.

But once the players cross the boundary, the responsibility becomes theirs. Administrators cannot play the cover drive. They cannot leave the ball outside off stump. They cannot defend a total. They cannot resist a spell of pressure from an opposing bowler. The players have to do that. And today’s defeat belongs primarily to the players on the field.

The worrying part is that Sri Lanka showed they could do it. That is why this loss should hurt more than an ordinary defeat. Sri Lanka had England exactly where they wanted them. They had an opportunity. But they lost by 89 runs.

But Sri Lanka must look beyond England. They must look at themselves. Because the most uncomfortable conclusion from Chester-le-Street is not that Sri Lanka cannot compete with England. They clearly can. They just did for half the match and that may be Sri Lanka’s greatest problem.  They have the talent to win. They have the bowlers to compete. They have young players capable of making an impact. What they appear to lack is the ability to sustain the same intensity, discipline and belief for the entire match.

Sri Lanka can win. The question is no longer whether they have enough talent. The question is whether they can find the temperament, discipline and hunger to turn that talent into a winning team. Until they do, Sri Lanka will remain one of international cricket’s great frustrations: good enough to beat anybody and capable of losing games they should never have lost.