By Jo Harman

Just a couple of weeks ago, Sri Lanka appeared to be shaping up nicely for the World Cup. In July, they had successfully walked the precarious tightrope of the qualification tournament in Zimbabwe – and in some style, reeling off eight consecutive wins to advance to the main event – and then carried that form into last month’s Asia Cup, defeating much-fancied Pakistan on their way to the final.
A sense of optimism was building that Sri Lanka could perhaps be an outside bet for a semi-final berth despite failing to be among the eight teams which qualified from the World Cup...