(Reuters) – In the wake of the Netherlands’ stunning win against South Africa at the World Cup, Dutch batter Teja Nidamanuru said on Friday that a win in his side’s Saturday clash with Sri Lanka in Lucknow may not be so much of an upset.
The Netherlands stunned the third-placed South Africans on Wednesday, while Sri Lanka are bottom of the table with three straight losses in the tournament.
“We competed against Sri Lanka multiple times in the qualifiers,” Nidamanuru told a press conference. “Obviously we fell short in our batting side and we have worked extremely hard on that… (if we beat them on Saturday) I don’t know if I’d call it an upset.”
“Their spin through the middle is something that troubled us,” Nidamanuru added. “It’s something we’ve looked into… and worked extremely hard on.”
The last time the two sides met, the Dutch folded for 105 chasing down a target of 234 against the 1996 champions in the World Cup Qualifier final in July.
Nidamanuru said his team was also aware of Sri Lanka and South Africa’s low totals in the previous matches at Lucknow.
“I understand there’s been a couple of low scores here,” he said. “From speaking to the ground staff, they say it’s going to be a little bit more pace and carry… there’s a bit more grass on it, so let’s see.”
Sri Lanka’s performance has suffered since last month’s Asia Cup as several key players have been injured, including Dasun Shanaka, who was ruled out for the rest of the tournament with a thigh injury sustained in their loss to Pakistan on Tuesday.
“We have been performing on and off… we are yet to produce a tidy game,” Sri Lanka coach Naveed Nawaz said on Friday.
“It’s important that we all align individual performances into a team plan.”
Shanaka was replaced by Chamika Karunaratne in the squad as vice captain Kusal Mendis assumed the captaincy.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru)
