The Sri Lanka team’s ICC World Cup 2023 campaign hasn’t gotten off to a good start. Dushmantha Chameera and Wanindu Hasaranga, two of their top players, were injured at the beginning. The Lankan Lions let up the most World Cup points ever against South Africa as a result. In their opening World Cup 2023 encounter, South Africa crushed them, scoring 428/5 with Delhi batting first.
Despite their best efforts, Kusal Mendis and Charith Asalanka were unable to successfully pursue the target. With only 326 runs, Sri Lanka fell short and suffered a 102-run defeat. Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama scored magnificent centuries to lead Sri Lanka to 344 runs after they batted first in their subsequent game against Pakistan in Hyderabad. However, with centuries from Abdullah Shafique and Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan was able to chase down this highest total ever and set a World Cup record in the process.
Despite possessing bowlers like Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara, Sri Lanka’s main issue was their fast bowling assault, which lacked both experience and skill. In both of his games against South Africa and Pakistan, Matheesha Pathirana scored over 90 runs. Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera, the team’s openers, provided the Lankans the perfect start against Australia in Lucknow in a game that they had to win. The two totalled 125 runs in 21 overs and each reached the fifty-run mark.
They were swept out for 209 runs after being 157/1 at one point but losing their final 9 wickets for around 50 runs. Despite the early wickets of David Warner and Steve Smith, this was unable to stop the aggressive Australia batting lineup. Australia won their first game of the Cricket World Cup in three games because to fifty-plus scores from Mitch Marsh and Josh Inglis, who led Australia home by 5 wickets.
How on earth can Sri Lanka still advance to the ICC World Cup semifinals in 2023?
For Sri Lanka, this defeat was humiliating since it meant that, after three games in the ODI World Cup 2023, they still hadn’t scored. Additionally, their net run rate decreased and is at -1.532. On the CWC 2023 points chart, they are positioned slightly above the Netherlands in last place. Given that there will be ten teams competing in the ODI World Cup in 2023 and that each team will play nine matches, Sri Lanka still has a chance to go to the semifinals.
To be in the running for the semifinals, each team must win at least six games. While seven victories will essentially guarantee a place in the last four. First, Sri Lanka needs to win all six of its remaining games in order to have a chance of making it to the last four. In their remaining games, Sri Lanka will take on the Netherlands, England, Afghanistan, India, Bangladesh, and New Zealand. As a result, Sri Lanka will think they have a good chance of defeating Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and the Netherlands.
Sri Lanka must make sure to raise their net run rate in addition to defeating these teams. For a remote chance of qualifying, the Kusal Mendis-led team will need to perform admirably against elite opponents like India, England, and New Zealand in their next three games. With 11 points in the 2019 World Cup, New Zealand advanced to the semifinals, but there were four rainouts in that competition. This assisted the Kiwis in reaching the last four.
This appears doubtful for the India 2023 World Cup. However, it is a scenario that could aid Sri Lanka in their effort to advance to the knockout rounds.
Finally, Sri Lanka must address two key issues. To be in the running for the semifinals, First must win every one of their remaining six games.
The second point is that, with six victories under their belt, Sri Lanka will require an extremely high net run rate to move into the top four. This is only possible if they thoroughly defeat at least three other teams. If Sri Lanka loses another game, its prospects of making the semifinals will severely decrease.
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