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Sri Lanka were scheduled to face Nepal in the 23rd match of the T20 World Cup in Lauderhill, Florida, on June 11; however, the game was called off due to the rain, which has put Wanindu Hasaranga’s team on the brink of elimination.
However, they have a very slim chance of going through if they beat the Netherlands in their last group match, the Bangladesh vs. Netherlands match gets washed out, and the results of other matches fall in their favor.
Sri Lanka are having a dismal tournament; they lost their first game against South Africa in New York. Batting first, the Lankans could only score 77 runs and eventually lost the match by six wickets.
In their second game in Dallas against Bangladesh, they were asked to bat first, and once again, their batting failed to live up to expectations, managing to score just 124 runs. However, the Lankan bowlers did put up a fight, but it wasn’t meant to be as Bangladesh won the match by two wickets with an over remaining.
With just one point from three games, Wanindu Hasaranga's team sits at the bottom of Group D, and it is all but certain that their campaign will finish in the group stage. As Sri Lanka face an early exit, in this article, we will look at three things that went wrong for Sri Lanka in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
#1 A complete failure in the batting department
One of the things that went wrong for Sri Lanka was the complete collapse of the batting department. Sri Lanka's batters didn't help themselves as they struggled mightily against South Africa on the challenging surface in New York. Sri Lanka's reckless batting was exploited by South Africa, as the Lankan batters were found slogging the ball when they needed to build partnerships.
Meanwhile, in their second game against Bangladesh, at one point, Sri Lanka were 100/3 after 14 overs. However, things took a turn for the worse when the Lankans continued to lose wickets at the time they needed to accelerate to get to a decent total. Sri Lanka went from 100/3 to 124/9, which badly affected their chances of winning the game.
#2 Sri Lankan players let the game go in the middle overs
While defending a target of 77 in the first game against South Africa, the Sri Lankan bowlers bowled brilliantly in the powerplay, picking up two wickets and conceding only 27 runs. However, in the middle overs (7-15), they only managed to bag two wickets, while they themselves lost six, which turned the game in favor of their opponents.
Sri Lankan bowlers again started well in the second match against Bangladesh. Defending a total of 124 runs, the Lankans took three wickets in the powerplay and were in the game. However, in the middle overs, they only managed to pick up two wickets and concede 66 runs.
The lack of wickets in the middle overs cost them the game, despite their excellent bowling in the death overs; Sri Lanka might have won if they had taken three or four wickets in those overs.
#3 Below-par performances from experienced players
Sri Lanka needed experienced players like Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, and their captain, Wanindu Hasaranga, in these tough situations; however, not a single one of them stepped up when their team needed them the most.
If you look at the numbers, Mendis has only scored 29 runs in two matches, while Mathews and the former captain had the task of handling the middle, in which they failed miserably, having scored 32 and 12 runs, respectively.
In the meantime, Hasaranga failed to open his account despite moving up the order in both matches. These below-par performances from their core players played a major part in the downfall of the Sri Lankans as they found themselves on the brink of elimination.
