Be Ruthless In The Basics, Arthur Implores

Sri Lanka’s bowlers need to be “ruthless in the basics” if they are to produce a series-clinching win against South Africa today, Head Coach Mickey Arthur said, hinting at the possibility of a shuffling of the deck in the bowling attack

After a close 14-run win in the series-opener last Thursday, Sri Lanka were comfortably beaten in the rain-shortened second ODI on Sunday, losing by 67 runs on the Duckworth/Lewis method.

That was after South Africa had chalked up an imposing total of 283 for 6 in 47 overs, an equation the hosts struggled to get ahead of after losing their first three wickets for 19 runs.

Arthur said the bowlers, and to some degree the batsman, had abandoned what previously worked for them.

“Something that we have gone away from as a bowling unit, has been our ability, and I thought that was prevalent in our whole game, the other night. We went away from the things that we have to do well as a team,” Arthur said yesterday.