Sri Lanka charge out of the blocks with intent in Jamaica warm-up

INNSWOOD, Jamaica – If Sri Lanka’s first workout on Caribbean soil is any indication, the West Indies series may be a cracker.

The visitors warmed up for Wednesday’s opening ODI with a controlled, purposeful performance against a Jamaica Select XI on Sunday, leaving bowling coach Ryan van Niekerk a satisfied man.

Speaking after the limited-overs hit-out, van Niekerk made it clear that this was far from a casual stroll in the sun.

“A really good outing for us,” the coach said. “We’ve spent the last seven weeks doing a lot of training, so it’s really good to get some 50-over cricket under the belt. A lot of the guys got a long time on the legs. Nice to have certain players back in our group. So all in all, really good outing for us.”

While warm-up matches can sometimes drift, van Niekerk singled out the team’s energy as the most impressive feature.

“Sometimes warm-up games can sort of amble along, so just the intensity that we played with. We had quite a few batters get in and manage to bat 15, 20 overs, which was really nice. And then all the seamers got six, seven, eight overs under their belt accordingly. Just the way we played a warm-up game really stood out for us.”

The 11-hour time difference from home posed an obvious challenge, but Sri Lanka planned. According to van Niekerk, the early arrival and two quality training days at Sabina Park were crucial to hitting the ground running.

“Sometimes you get to a place like the West Indies, and you don’t get a chance to get warm-up games and time on the legs, and kind of get rid of a bit of the jet lag, and get the bowlers bowling overs as well. This warm-up game just put those processes and plans we’ve been speaking about in place.”

And when asked about the team’s approach for the series, the coach did not mince words.

“We are here to win simply.“We’ve come up with a plan. We’ve come with some really good intentions and a way that we want to play our ODI cricket as a group, and one of those big things is putting that into place on this tour.”

CMC