Dushmantha Chameera ruled out of Sri Lanka's Group A decider against Netherlands

Dushmantha Chameera has been ruled out of Sri Lanka’s final Group A match against Netherlands, a match they will almost certainly need to win in order to qualify for the Super 12s stage of the World Cup. Chameera claimed 3 for 15 in a thumping win over UAE that has increased Sri Lanka’s chances of progression, but was unable to finish his spell after pulling up with a calf injury. It was later confirmed by Professor Arjuna de Silva, who oversees Sri Lanka’s medical operations, that Chameera would miss the Netherlands game, with his participation in the rest of the tournament in doubt.

There are also concerns over Danushka Gunathilaka, who missed the UAE game, and Pramod Madushan, with both due to go for scans on hamstring injuries, although Sri Lanka’s medical team are hopeful the latter’s is not too serious. The loss of Chameera and, potentially, Madushan is a blow after Sri Lanka’s bowlers dominated the match against UAE. Dismissing the opposition for 73 inside 18 overs. There remain concerns over the side’s batting after they collapsed from 117 for 3 in the 15th over to only post 152 for 8.

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Having also put up a poor batting performance against Namibia. Sri Lanka’s middle order go into the last match of the qualifying stage significantly short of runs. For coach Chris Silverwood, this may have something to do with the weather. As temperatures have frequently dipped into the low teens in Geelong over the past two weeks. “The temperatures we’re experiencing, the boys are not used to,” Silverwood said. “It’s certainly not Colombo. Even I’m cold, a little bit. You can’t help it. The preparation and facilities we were given having arrived early, were superb.

The boys have prepped the best we possibly can. We had a good camp in Kandy before we got on an airplane and came here. We’ve made the best of what we’ve had really.” The bowlers, at least, put in a complete performance on Tuesday. Seamers Chameera and Madushan decked the top order, before the spinners ripped out UAE’s middle- and lower-order batters.