Must win game for both teams- Silverwood

Chris Silverwood having a chat with Angelo Mathews

By Champika Fernando in Bengaluru
Ahead of the team’s crucial fixture against England, Chris Silverwood, the head coach of the Sri Lankan cricket team. says that Thursday’s clash should produce a “very good game of cricket” as both teams desperately look to stay in contention for the World Cup.
The teams will each have four games to complete after tomorrow’s match. But the losing side will no longer be in the running for the 2023 edition of the ODI World Cup.
Defending champions England are languishing at the 9th position in the table although they, like Sri Lanka, have one win and three losses. Sri Lanka is one slot above them.
“Depending on how this result goes, it could keep the contest wide open, which I think is really exciting for the World Cup, it is exciting for a lot of teams that sat where we are,” said Silverwood at a media interaction after Sri Lanka’s second practice session at the Chinnasuwamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
“But first and foremost, I think it’s gonna be an exciting game,” he continued. “I know our players are very much looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to it. And as you say, it’s a must-win game for both teams. So, it should produce a very good game of cricket”.

Silverwood joined the Sri Lanka team in April 2022, two months after he parted ways with the England team, following the team’s 4-0 Ashes defeat. He said England is a good and dangerous side, even though they got off to a poor start to their campaign.
“So, we’ve got to make sure that we do our homework and make sure we prepare well, which we have, and give ourselves the best chance,” he said, of his former charges.
Smaller boundaries, a flat track and an inexperienced bowling attack may well play into England’s hands in a venue notoriously famous for high scores but Silverwood says the same applies to the English side.
Left-arm seamer Dilshan Madushanka is enjoying a great tournament with 11 wickets in four games and Kasun Rajitha bowled beautifully against the Netherlands with a four-wicket haul. As a unit, however, they have struggled to contain run flows.
“I think it’d be tough for both sides,” Silverwood reflected.  “It’s notoriously quite a high-scoring ground here. We’ve seen that the wickets are very good, but practice facilities have been excellent. And we’ve seen when you hit the ball, it stays. It’s going to be a good contest. But there’s gonna be questions that, obviously, we have to sit down with the captain and the selectors and speak to them about what we feel our best attack will be on this wicket in the best way we can contain them and take wickets.”
Sri Lanka are without Dushamantha Chameera and Wanindu Hasaranga in the squad due to injuries. Chameera, while he joined the team on Friday, cannot get into the 15 unless a player is ruled out due to injuries.

“We’d like to have our best bowling attack, in particular, out there over time, but sometimes life challenges you in that way and that opens doors for other people as well,” Silverwood said. “So, we have to try and make the best of what we have available to us and that’s what we’re trying to do at the moment. Again, it is giving a great experience to some people. It is not ideal, but where we are, we have to make the best of what we’ve got.”
Even though Sri Lanka scored over 300 runs in the first two games under very good batting conditions, their fragile middle-order was exposed against Australia where they lost the team’s last 9 wickets for just 52 runs. This can be overcome by building partnerships.
“It’s just trying to create those partnerships. We’ve seen some great partnerships at the top and if we can create them in the middle that will help us to go big,” he said.  
“We’re not a complete team, we know it,” he accepted.  “It’s something that we’re constantly working on, something that we’re striving to push towards all the time, which will help us get to the next level. It’s not something that can be fixed overnight. It’s something that has to be constantly worked on. It’s in the game plan, the players are talking about it. That’s all we can do really, and just go out there and work really hard.”