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THE TIMES OF INDIA | Oct 21, 2023, 09:24:24 IST
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NED vs SL World Cup 2023 Live Score Updates: It will be a battle for survival for a winless Sri Lanka when it plays against the Netherlands, who are on a high after stunning South Africa in Dharamsala. It will be a litmus test for struggling Sri Lanka as their main players Kusal Perera and bowler Matheesha Pathirana are doubtful starters. Sri Lanka will need to focus on middle-order batting which includes stand-in skipper Kusal Mendis. In the previous game against Australia, only the Sri Lanka openers could score runs. Pathum Nissanka posted 61 off 67 balls while wicketkeeper batter Kusal Perera scored 78 runs off 82 balls. However, after this the batting order collapsed like a pack of cards. Luckily for Sri Lanka, the pitch has been providing equal opportunities to bowlers (both pacers and spinners) as well as batters. In the previous match, Australian bowler Adam Zampa claimed four wickets while pacers Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc took two wickets each. In what has come a huge relief to the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA), the pitch at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, which had behaved poorly during a T20I match between India and New Zealand in January this year, has received "very good" rating by the ICC for the Australia versus South Africa match which was played on October 12. When Sri Lanka and the Netherlands played against each other for the last time in July in the finals of the World Cup qualifier, the former won the match by 128 runs. As for their head-to-head encounters so far, the two teams have met on five occasions, with the former winning on all instances. Like Sri Lanka, the World Cup campaign of the Netherlands did not take off well they were defeated by Pakistan and New Zealand. However, the massive victory of the Netherlands against South Africa came as a huge morale-booster.
We are playing with a really young group of bowlers, so they are bound to make mistakes. The way forward is how we can learn from the mistakes. It's a nine-game tournament we are playing. So, I think the players have room to learn and improve their capabilities, because we've got a very capable group, no doubt.
Sri Lanka's assistant coach Naveed Nawaz
Numbers Game!
I think If we assess those two games that we played against Sri Lanka [in World Cup qualifiers], it's our batting department that probably didn't live up to the expectation that we needed to. I think in the final we played, we kept them down to a good score, we could have chased that, but obviously their spin through the middle was something that troubled us... but that's something that we've looked into and we've addressed and we've worked extremely hard on playing spin and being able to rotate strike through the middle a little bit better.
Netherlands' Teja Nidamanuru
Netherlands vs Sri Lanka Stat attack - Sri Lanka had beaten Netherlands twice in the World Cup qualifier earlier this year including the final after both teams secured their spots for the ongoing World Cup in India.
The Lucknow wicket has so far seen the team batting first having the advantage, as the ball has been moving under the lights.
NED vs SL - Madushanka key
Lanka would rely on pacer Dilshan Madushanka, who has been their leading wicket-taker in the event so far with seven scalps. He got the ball to swing against Australia at the same venue and would be looking to do the same against the struggling Dutch top-order.
SL vs NED - Bowlers letting Lanka down
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have plenty to worry about on the bowling front. They have not been able to a produce a collective performance thus far. The Lions have been decent with their batting, having posted 300-plus total in their opening two contests. However, it is Sri Lanka's bowling that have let them down in the absence of a few injured players.
NED vs SL Live - Dutch top-order in focus
The top three Vikramjit Singh, Max O'Dowd and Colin Ackermann have not been able to get the team off to a good start, putting additional pressure on the middle-order. A morale-boosting win over South Africa will provide an extra dose of confidence to the trio ahead of the Sri Lanka clash. Star all-rounder Bas de Leede is doing his bit with the ball but can step on the batting front. The performance against the Proteas showed that the Netherlands mean business, having set an ambitious target of reaching the semifinals in their first World Cup appearance in 12 years.
Netherlands vs Sri Lanka - Dutch eyeing back-to-back wins
Having a caused a major upset, the Netherlands will have a spring in their stride when they take on a struggling Sri Lanka. The Dutch, who stunned South Africa in Dharamsala for their first World Cup win against a Test playing nation, will be eying an improved show from their top-order as they look for back-to-back victories.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Match 19 of the ICC ODI World Cup between Netherlands and Sri Lanka in Lucknow.
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