Sri Lanka coach calls on bowling unit to stick to the basics more consistently
“I think No. 5 is one of the toughest positions to bat in white-ball cricket, because you could be coming in at 20 for 3, or 180 for 3 – you’ve got to be adaptable,” Arthur said. “Those two innings Asalanka’s played have been very mature innings – ones he can be very proud of. Watching him play has been very, very rewarding, because I’ve seen how much work and effort he’s put in, in the nets. It’s not just the rewards he’s got. He reads the situation of the game so well. I’m incredibly impressed with him.”
“Dasun works extremely hard at his game,” he said. “He’s hitting the ball as well as I’ve ever seen him hit the ball, and I thought we saw glimpses in that 30 the other night. He was really disappointed to get out. He should have theoretically hit that one [a legside long hop] out of the ground. I’ve got no issues around his form at the moment, and no issues about the way he’s leading the team. I’m confident there’s a match-winning innings from Dasun Shanaka around the corner.”
On the bowling front, Sri Lanka’s spinners have not been quite as effective against South Africa’s batters as the hosts may have hoped. Sri Lanka have played three specialist spinners (Wanindu Hasaranga, Akila Dananjaya, and Praveen Jayawickrama) in both matches so far, but South Africa’s top order has scored heavily, particularly via variations of the sweep. Arthur felt his bowlers needed to bowl more challenging lengths, rather than focus on variations, in order to make scoring more difficult.
“I think something we’ve gone away from as a bowling unit is doing the basics. That was prevalent in our whole game on Saturday. Any emerging team has got to be ruthless on the basics.”
Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo’s Sri Lanka correspondent. @afidelf