By Akhila Seneviratne
Sri Lanka did not have the best game against a Keshav Maharaj-led South Africa in the last match as they lost the game by a considerable margin and the 3 game series is leveled at 1 all. Will Sri Lanka make changes for the 3rd and final game?
Episode 3 of the special online TV episode ‘Payback with Lasith Malinga’ was hosted by Kelum Srima organized by the POD HUB, which was live-streamed over the srilankasports.com Facebook page on 3rd September. The discussion with the former T20 winning captain was mainly focused on what went wrong for Sri Lanka and how we could bounce back.
At the start of the show, Kelum Srimal made it a point to take a few minutes and remind the viewers of the sudden demise of the legendary Sri Lankan singer Sunil Perera. His infamous song track “Sri Lanka Kollo Wasai” was a brilliant reminder of the good old days of Sri Lankan cricket, along with a tribute video played. PODHUB was to host a home concert with him.
Despite the rain interrupting the game and making a 47 over the game, South Africa scored 286 runs and Sri Lanka went onto lose the match by 67 runs. Lasith Malinga pointed out that Kagiso Rabada in particular made changes to his bowling and that is what troubled the top-order batsmen.
“It’s all about bowling at the right pace at the right length,” Lasith Malinga said. The Sri Lankan fast bowlers on the other hand were frustrated and midfield was proven costly with extra boundaries and dropped chances.
Malinga was confident that the Sri Lankan middle-order batsmen have the will to recover when the top order fails. When asked about what changes should be made, especially in the top order, he was particular on why these changes are supposed to be made and pointed out on how it affects the batsmen’s thinking. “You can’t judge a player’s performance on 1 match and neither should you give them only one. It’s too many expectations on their shoulders that they have to perform. It’s better to make changes in the T20s with those who have performed in that format.”
While it is understandable that too many changes can upset the tea balance, there is a lot of work to be doing a short time before the T20 World Cup. The players have to adapt to conditions, says Malinga, who was confident that Sri Lanka could make a comeback if they try to play their natural game without getting frustrated at the conditions.
The Sri Lankan fans are eager to see better performance and a series win in the last ODI against South Africa today at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
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