“The bowling has been good since the start of the tournament,” added Nawaz.
Sri Lanka put in a great performance with the ball during the ODI World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe. Dasun Shanaka’s team has not conceded more than 200 goals in any game, proving their consistency on leather. Spinners Wanindu Hasaranga and Mahesh Teekshana are phenomenal to say the least, and Rahil Kumara was also great before his injury.
In the same vein, hitting coach Naveed Nawaz praised the bowlers, recalling that although the batsmen staggered at times, the bowlers always looked great. In particular, the batting lineup did not perform well, scoring only 213 points against the Netherlands. However, the bowlers carried on and helped the team win by 21 points. So while Naveed is very impressed with the bowlers’ performance so far, he worries about the collapse of his batting in the tournament.
“Throughout the tournament so far, we’ve managed to keep every team below his 200th place. When you’re feeling bad in the top end, how do you get to 240 or 250 and do that?” I thought about supporting bowling to protect . From the starting point, 213 is a good result. We will always support our bowling to protect it,” Naveed told ESPNcricinfo.
“I’m a little concerned that our influence has collapsed twice in a few days. Once at the top (falling down) and once in the middle. We must regroup. We have to sit down and talk about it and see how we come back for the next game,” he added.
It is worth noting that Sri Lanka still need a win to secure a place in the ODI World Cup which is scheduled to start on 5 October in India. They currently sit at the top of the Super 6 point table and are close to qualifying for the tournament final.
