World Cup 2023: Rating bowling performances of all teams in first week

7. Sri Lanka - 5/10

Sri Lanka have failed to be impressive in this competition, so far as they haven’t won any game in their three outings. Witnessing their team’s performance in the first two matches, Sri Lanka team fans will be satiated with their batters’ work but must be miffed with bowlers.

In their inaugural game against South Africa in Delhi, Sri Lanka elected to bowl first after winning the toss. Taking advantage of the batting track, the Protea batters took Sri Lanka’s bowling attack to the cleaners and accumulated 428 runs on the board in their 50 overs.

The horrendous bowling show from the bowlers cost the 1996 champions this match by a huge margin of 102 runs. Following the loss in Delhi, Dasun Shanaka and his men locked horns with Pakistan in Hyderabad. In the first half of the game, everything went well for Sri Lanka as their batters Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama scored magnificent centuries and helped their side to post 344 runs on the board. 

The superb batting efforts of both players went in vain as Sri Lanka bowlers failed to save the big total in front of Mohammad Rizwan (unbeaten 131 runs off 121 deliveries) and Abdullah Shafique (113 runs off 103 balls). Matheesha Pathirana, who was one of the key bowlers of Sri Lanka’s pace attack, gave away 90 runs in his nine-over spell and emerged as a failure.