T20 World Cup 2021: “There will be a lot of pressure on captains to win toss in Dubai” - Jayawardene reviews Sri Lanka’s defeat

Former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene has admitted that dew is having a major role to play in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021.

That has made the toss an extremely crucial factor. Jayawardene reckoned that, bowling second, Sri Lankan spinners could not get the ball to grip, while Adam Zampa successfully did the same in the first innings.

Australia thumped Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the 22nd game of the T20 World Cup 2021 in Dubai on Thursday. Sent into bat first, Sri Lanka managed to put up only 154-6 on the board. Australia chased down the target without any trouble, getting home in 17 overs.

Reviewing Sri Lanka’s defeat, Jayawardene admitted that Australia were the better of the two teams on the day. He, however, also conceded that dew made life difficult for the Lankan spinners. The former player told ESPN Cricinfo in this regard:

“There is a certain disadvantage with the dew coming in for teams like Sri Lanka, who depend a lot on their spinners for those variations and to get those wickets in the middle overs."

"The Sri Lankan spinners tried earlier on, but the ball was skidding on. You did not see the kind of grip (for Sri Lankan spinners) that Adam Zampa was getting when he was bowling those lines and creating doubts in the batsmen’s minds.”

He added:

“We have seen throughout the tournament so far that the spinners have found it very difficult at the backend. It's an advantage (for the team bowling first) when you look at the bigger picture and the T20 World Cup. There will be a lot of pressure on captains to win the toss while playing in Dubai.”

To see the updated points table of T20 World Cup 2021, click here.

Wanindu Hasaranga (2 for 22) was the only Sri Lankan bowler to make an impact. He dismissed Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell. According to former India pacer Ajit Agarkar, Sri Lanka perhaps missed a trick by not bowling the leg-spinner in the powerplay. Agarkar opined:

“There was merit in bringing Hasaranga on during the powerplay. He bowls quite straight, and has got a great googly. His trajectory is quite low, and he doesn’t really give time to the batsmen."

"With Warner there, it is always a risk. But he (Hasaranga) has done that before as well. Maybe they missed a trick, but Australia batted quite well in that powerplay.”

Off-spinner Maheesh Theekshana was economical, giving away only 27 runs in his four overs, but he failed to grab a wicket.

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“It was a costly miss” - Jayawardene on Sri Lanka dropping David Warner

Australian opener David Warner. Pic: Getty Images

Australia breezed to victory in the end. But things could have been different had Kusal Perera held on to a simple catch offered by Warner when he was batting on 18.

Jayawardene admitted that the miss proved to be extremely costly. He said about the dropped catch:

“Given these conditions, wickets are the key, and early wickets are always going to help. It was one of those chances that nine out of 10 times one would take. Kusal (Perera) probably took his eyes off it."

"Sri Lanka could have done with that wicket up front, knowing how dangerous David Warner can be. He handled the spinners really well, especially (Maheesh) Theekshana. It was a costly miss. When you have that kind of a batting line-up, you need to grab all those opportunities.”

Warner went on to score 65 off 42 with the help of ten fours. His opening stand of 70 with captain Aaron Finch (37) laid the foundation of Australia’s successful chase.