DEXTER CRUEZ, Colombo | Thursday 11.00am.
SRI Lankans blasted their former cricketing heroes on Thursday for their dismal showing at the World Cup in England and said it is time captain Arjuna Ranatunga resigned.
Sri Lanka, the shock winners of the 1996 World Cup, lost a crucial match against India by 157 runs on Wednesday, virtually eliminating their chances of entering the second round. “It was akin to putting the lambs to slaughter as (Saurav) Ganguly and (Rahul) Dravid flogged the Lankan bowlers all around the park,” the independent Island newspaper said.
India piled up 373 for six off 50 overs and then dismissed Sri Lanka for 216, their highest total of the tournament in four matches. “The total itself told the story of Sri Lanka’s sad decline,” the state-owned Daily News said. Sri Lanka began the tournament disastrously, losing to England and South Africa before pulling off an unconvincing win against Zimbabwe. The defeat against India means Sri Lanka have only one match against Kenya to play and can only enter the next round if India lose to England and Arjuna Ranatunga’s team are able to lift their net run rate to surpass India.
Somasundram Skandakumar, a former cricket board secretary, described the Taunton game as an “agonising performance”. “Since winning at Lahore (in 1996) the game has had more than its share of turmoil in Sri Lanka and what we witnessed at Taunton was an inevitable consequence of all this,” he said.