Mickey Arthur's 'frustrated' reaction after a comical run-out sums up Sri Lanka's misery against England

It’s not a good time if you are a Sri Lankan fan, expert, former cricketer, and a coach too. The team’s abject surrender against England in the three-match T20I and ODI series have left everyone disappointed and calls for a total overhaul are going louder each passing day. If a poor team performance was not enough, then the three senior players were sent home packing after they breached the COVID-19 protocols.

Mickey Arthur, head coach of the Sri Lanka team, is known to be very expressive when it comes to mishaps in the field and lack of proper communication among players. He wears his heart on the sleeve and shows his emotions most of the time. This time it was due to running between the wickets between the last wicket pair in the third and final ODI that left Arthur livid, to say the least.

If in the first ODI it was the duo of Chamika Karunaratne and Binura Fernando that showed terrible signs of running wickets, then it was the turn of Asitha Fernando and Dasun Shanaka to compound the woes of the Sri Lankan coach. During the 42nd over when the last pair was battling at the crease, Shanaka hit the ball to Sam Billings who was positioned in the deep. The batter called for two, but little did he knew that his partner was not interested in the double, which led to both batters being ended up at the non-striker’s end.

Mickey Arthur’s reaction sums up Sri Lanka’s plight

As soon as Billings threw the ball to the bowler Curran, Jonny Bairstow shouted keeper, keeper. Curran immediately threw the ball and the misery finally ended on the Sri Lankan innings. As soon as Bairstow whipped the bails, the cameras were zoomed on Arthur, who gave a stern and an ice-cold reaction, which indicated he had given up on this team.

With Sri Lanka all out for just 166, it was literally a walk in the park for England batters to accomplish the run-chase and inflict a whitewash. But alas it was not to be, as rain saved the day for the visitors and England won the series 2-0.

We need 167 to win 🏏

Scorecard/clips: https://t.co/litP0vXjam

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 #ENGvSL 🇱🇰 pic.twitter.com/QGFTHIJHTa

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 4, 2021