India and Sri Lanka are the proud hosts of the ongoing T20 World Cup, however, just on the second day of the super8, both the countries are staring at exit before semi-finals, largely due to Incompetent and spineless batting!
The Pallekele Disaster
During their campaign at home, whenever Sri Lanka played a game, Hindi Commentators at Star Sports (obviously all former Indian players) were always used to praise Island’s coaching staff which consists of Sanath Jayasuriya (head coach), Lasith Malinga (fast bowling coach), Vikram Rathore (batting coach) and R. Shridhar ( fielding coach), while describing it unarguably the best support staff amongst all 20 participating teams!
The general sentiments were – this Sri Lanka team can’t do anything wrong with this sort of support staff to mentor!
And, Indeed, Sri Lanka did everything right in the first half of their T20 World Cup Super 8 match against England in Pallekele on Saturday. The only problem was that they got it right only in the first half. Well begun is half done — but only half done.
After restricting England to 146 in their 20 overs, Sri Lanka’s batting order imploded, falling short of the target by 51 runs and handing birthday boy and opposition captain Harry Brook a lovely gift: two crucial points in the Super 8 stage.
The pitch at the Pallekele Stadium was a spin bowler’s friend. Sri Lanka bowled 12 overs of spin, picked up five wickets and gave away 85 runs. But England bettered Sri Lanka in their own battle, with Jacks leading the trial by spin. The part-timer, who has been having a dream run in the tournament, bowled all his four overs and picked three wickets, running through the Sri Lankan top-order.
Sri Lanka’s chase was jolted first by Jofra Archer in the third over. It appeared to be a steady start, but panic soon crept in.
They slumped from 15 without loss to 34 for five before the end of the powerplay, with Will Jacks and Archer sharing all five wickets between them.
Jacks effectively completed the damage inside the powerplay. In truth, it was less a demolition job and more self-inflicted harm, as Sri Lanka’s batters repeatedly found ways to throw their wickets away.
Sri Lanka’s hopes effectively ended when Shanaka, waging a lone battle, was dismissed for 30 in the 15th over. Adil Rashid then entered the fray, claiming the key wicket before adding another as Sri Lanka were bundled out for 95 in 16.4 overs.
None of Sri Lanka’s partnerships went past the 20-run mark, leaving the fans and the dugout, led by coach Sanath Jayasuriya, shell shocked.
The 51-run defeat will sting. Sri Lanka had been in a position of strength at the halfway stage, only for one of their poorest batting displays to derail their Super 8 campaign.
The conclusion: The Island’s cricket board hierarchy may provide world class coaching staff to the team, but it can’t infuse brain within the players to play sensible cricket on the ground!
The Ahmedabad Embarrassment
The 100,000 fans in Ahmedabad fell silent again as India were defeated by South Africa in the Super 8s of the T20 World Cup. The situation looked grim at around 10:30 pm in Ahmedabad. A 100,000 hearts were broken again as India succumbed to yet another World Cup defeat at the Narendra Modi Stadium — twice in a little over two years, at the very same venue.
Ironically, the Proteas planned India’s downfall right under their nose, and the Men in Blue did not even see it coming. For this mega upset, South Africa had done their homework. Meticulously. Quietly.
Two days before the match, while most preferred to stay indoors, South Africa practiced in the sweltering afternoon heat. It was not a full training session, but the entire Protean bowling unit checked into the ground at 2 pm sharp. The sun was unforgiving. The conditions were taxing. But the bowling group knew that they had to put in the hard yards when no one was around to watch them.
Captain Aiden Markram was the first to take the ball and started bowling to assistant coach Albie Morkel in the nets. Markram searched for a specific delivery — one that would pitch back of a length and zip into the stumps of a left-hander. He occasionally tried his stock ball too, floating it up slightly, hoping to draw the left-hander into playing against the spin.
He repeated it. Again and again.
On Sunday evening, rehearsal met reality.
Just like in the nets, Markram started South Africa’s bowling innings. And just as he visualised, he was able to draw Ishan Kishan into a false shot — continuing India’s now-familiar trend of one of their openers being dismissed for 0.
Markram was not greedy. He knew he had executed his role. And once that role was done, he did not bring himself back into the attack.
Once Markram was done, South Africa executed the other part of their plan.
Pacers like Lungi Ngidi had already used the nets to practice their slower balls. Ngidi, known for his ability to hit a hard length at pace, swallowed his ego and prepared for a different role, which was not about speed, but about deception.
On Sunday, Ngidi’s first ball was his stock delivery, sent down at full pace. From there, he began to mix it up — one slower ball after the other — making life increasingly uncomfortable for the Indian batters.
The surface did not allow stroke-making to flow freely. And South Africa ensured that India never found rhythm.
What perhaps came slightly out of the syllabus was Marco Jansen, who did not train as extensively across those two days. But Jansen’s towering frame and large hands give him a natural advantage in gripping the ball.
Against India, he bowled a knuckle ball. On top of that, he bowled it like a cutter.
The delivery turned out to be too good for an out-of-form Abhishek Sharma, who skied the ball and ended up handing a catch to Corbin Bosch in the outfield.
And Bosch’s role was not limited to that moment either.
The fast bowler, with the ability to bowl a heavy ball, picked up the wickets of Washington Sundar and Suryakumar Yadav. He kept his deliveries short of a length, varied his pace between the 140s and the 120s, and ensured that the batters were in a constant dilemma — never fully sure whether to commit to their shots.
Once the first four wickets fell for 43 runs, the contest had tilted sharply. From there, South Africa did not need magic. They only needed discipline. They needed to bowl defensively enough to make their 187-run total seem larger than it actually was for the batters at the back end of India’s line-up.
The 76-run loss meant that India took a significant hit to their Net Run Rate — -3.800, to be exact. If luck goes against India and this group somehow becomes a tie, they will be in trouble.
Not because they had a bad day, but because South Africa plotted their downfall right under their nose, and India, living in their own world did not even see it happening.
India’s aggressive brand of cricket offered little room for recalibration once the early wickets fell. The inability to rotate the strike or build meaningful partnerships compounded the pressure, ultimately resulting in a comprehensive defeat.
The Conclusion: As India move on from Ahmedabad, reality has struck. The team is beatable. The pitches in the T20 World Cup 2026 are not going to offer 300 runs. There is no escaping that.
