The former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar, who is one of the commentators on the official broadcast of the ongoing Asia Cup 2022, is very impressed with how Sri Lanka has been chasing big totals in the tournament.
Sri Lanka has chased down two totals, in the excess of 180 and 170, in two consecutive games in the Asia Cup 2022 after putting on a shocking performance against Afghanistan in the first group game, where they were bowled out for just 100 odds.
One of the stand-out features of Sri Lanka’s chases in the tournament is that none of their players is trying to anchor the innings at all. While they were chasing 175 against Afghanistan yesterday, no Sri Lankan batsman scored a half-century, but Sri Lanka were still able to complete the chase successfully.
Not one of their batsmen got a fifty, but they chased the target down: Sanjay Manjrekar
According to Sanjay Manjrekar, the method that Sri Lanka has adopted to chase totals in T20 cricket is that they are looking for “mid-size innings” from their batsmen at a very high strike rate, rather than looking for a long inning from someone at a modest strike rate.
Brilliant win for SL! Chasing down 176. Not a single SL batter got 50. But 4 mid size innings coming at strike rates of 189,165,221 & 177 did it! Better way to win T20 games I think.
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) September 3, 2022
In the pursuit of the target of 175 yesterday, as many as 4 Sri Lankan batsmen batted a strike rate of more than 160. While the opener Kusal Mendis gave them a rapid start with a 19-ball 36, Danushka Gunathilaka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa took the game away from Afghanistan with an onslaught in the middle overs, as they scored a 20-ball 33 and a 14-ball 31 respectively.
And, then towards the end of the innings, the finishing touches were applied by Wanindu Hasaranga who scored just 16 runs off 9 balls to take Sri Lanka over the line with Chamika Karunaratne. Sanjay Manjrekar is of the view that it’s a better way to chase targets in T20 cricket, rather than one batsman anchoring the innings and everyone batting around him.
