Sri Lanka in the 1983 Cricket World Cup (Part 2)

In the 1983 Cricket World Cup, Sri Lanka was placed in Group A and had to play against England, Pakistan and New Zealand to reach the semi finals. It lost the initial three group matches. West Indies was the favorite team to win this tournament and it reached the final. However, it was surprised by India in the final and had to be content in the runner-up position.

Group match against Pakistan

The fourth group match of Sri Lanka was against Pakistan on 16th June 1983 at Headingly, Leeds. The umpires for this match were Alan Whitehead and Donald Oslear. In this match, Ashantha de Mel bowled exceedingly well and took 5 wickets for 39 runs in 12 overs. Pakistan could reach a score of 235 for the loss of 7 wickets in 60 overs, mainly due to the performance of Imran Khan who remained unbeaten on 102 in 133 balls. In 58.3 overs, Sri Lanka was all out for 224. The match winning performance was given by Abdul Qadir who took 5 wickets in 12 overs while giving away 44 runs. Sidath Wettimuny showed some resistance and managed 50 runs in 127 deliveries. Qadir was honored as the Man of the Match. Pakistan won this match by 11 runs.

Group match against New Zealand

Sri Lanka played its fifth group match at County Ground, Derby on 18th June 1983 against New Zealand. Surprisingly, New Zealand was bowled out for 181 in 58.2 overs. Sri Lanka could achieve this feat due to an excellent bowling spell by Ashantha de Mel who bowled 12 overs, conceded 32 runs and took 5 wickets. Martin Snedden faced 55 deliveries and managed 40 runs. In reply, Sri Lanka made 184 for 7 wickets in 52.5 overs. Roy Dias remained unbeaten on 64 after facing 101 balls. Martin Snedden finished with figures of 2 for 58 in 10.5 overs. Ashantha de Mel was awarded the Man of the Match accolade. Sri Lanka won this match by 3 wickets. This was the singular group match won by Sri Lanka in the 1983 Cricket World Cup.

Group match against England

The last group match of Sri Lanka was against England on 20th June 1983 at Headingly, Leeds. In 50.4 overs, Sri Lanka was bowled out for 136. The top scorer was Sidath Wettimuny who made 22 in 49 balls. Paul Allott took 3 wickets while conceding 41 runs in 10.4 overs. England replied by scoring 137 runs for the loss of 1 wicket in 24.1 overs. The only batsman out was Graeme Fowler who faced 77 deliveries and hit 81 runs. England won this match by 9 wickets.

Sri Lanka had played 6 group matches out of which it had won 1 match and lost 5. So, it was given 4 points and the team occupied the last position in Group A. So, it had to exit from the tournament.