When winning doesn't matter, but pride and money do

Neither a bang nor a whimper accompanied the end of the men's World Cup qualifiers ended at Harare Sports Club (HSC) on Sunday. Instead the final was a strange dance; a two-step of torpor and twitchiness conducted by teams on different trajectories towards a common goal.

Dasun Shanaka and Scott Edwards appeared with the trophy on the outfield on Saturday for the obligatory photo shoot, and greeted each other with the hearty handshakes and hugs of brothers. Perhaps the clearly warm words they exchanged concerned the fact that the decider was not a decider. By virtue of reaching the final, both teams will go to the World Cup in India in October and November.

That made Sunday's match irrelevant. Even so, the Netherlands brought to it the same preppy energy that has propelled them throughout the tournament. They have had so much fun proving their point - that they belong at the global showpiece - that they were enthusiastic to prove it again. Sri Lanka, World Cup champions in 1996, skulked around the ground projecting a faint air of either embarrassment that they should have to put up with qualifying in the first place, or boredom with being there having done the job they came to do.

How had the realisation that they would have to qualify land with the Sri Lankans? "It was uncomfortable," Chris Silverwood said. "It was a responsibility that we took very heavily. We knew we had to come here and perform. It's tricky when you come to these places. One of the things that has been really pleasing for me is that every time we have been asked a question, we've managed to find solutions. That's a sign of a good developing team, which is what we have here."

The difference in the teams' approach was captured across seven balls deep in the doldrums of the Lankan innings, each episode starring the irrepressible Logan van Beek. Sahan Arachchige reverse swept the first of those deliveries, bowled by Saqib Zulfiqar, into van Beek's hands as he dived at a shortish backward point. Two balls later Charith Asalanka bunted Zulfiqar to mid wicket and set off on a single that was never there. van Beek hustled to the ball and bustled his throw, which glanced the stumps with Asalanka millimetres from safety. Four balls after that Shanaka lazily dinked van Beek to mid-on, where Vikramjit Singh took a simple catch.

That took the Lankans from 180/3 to 183/6, and shrunk a total that had looked bound for at least 350 to 233. But, unlike teams like West Indies and South Africa, Sri Lanka do not often beat themselves. So it didn't matter that their opponents were the most plucky, enterprising, ambitious team at the qualifiers. Objectively, the Lankans are a better side than the Dutch. Good luck telling the Dutch that.

They prevailed over the United States, Nepal, West Indies, Oman and Scotland - and lost to Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka - to reach the final. But Sri Lanka swept all before them: the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands, Zimbabwe and West Indies. In the Super Six game between the finalists in Bulawayo two Fridays ago, the Lankans were dismissed for 20 fewer runs than on Sunday and still won by 21.

The match-winning performances then were Dhananjaya da Silva, who took guard at 34/4 and was ninth out for 93, and Maheesh Theekshana, who dismissed Bas de Leede, Zulfiqar and van Beek in the space of seven of his deliveries. On Sunday, in the absence of a compelling batting remedy, the winning was done by Dilshan Madushanka, who removed Vikramjit, Wesley Barresi and Noah Croes in a new-ball spell of five overs that cost nine runs. And by Wanindu Hasaranga, who struck with his first delivery of the match by trapping Teja Nidamanuru in front and did the same to Zulfiqar four overs later to reduce the Dutch to 49/6 after 12. Hasaranga was denied two more wickets by umpire's call, and Theekshana hastened the end by taking the last four for seven runs.

You can bring as much energy, enthusiasm, hustle and bustle to a contest as you can carry. But it will likely count for little if your opponents are the demonstrably superior side and, importantly, are able to corral enough of that superiority even when they don't need to win. The Lankans did that on Sunday.

They twice topped 300 but it's with the ball that they left their mark on the tournament. Going into Sunday's game none of the nine other teams had taken more wickets than their total of 64, nor banked a better bowling average than their 18.68, nor a better economy rate than their 4.78, nor more five-wicket-hauls than their three - all by Hasaranga.

Not that most of the crowd cared. As expected, in the absence of Zimbabwe's team they threw their support behind the Dutch, who had the good grace to applaud them from the field. A small section of fans on the grass bank had turned out to shout for Sri Lanka, and were joyous in their appreciation of the ground announcer splashing some papare music amid the usual fare.

They knew their team would win long before that was confirmed. They also knew the victory didn't count for much, and that the going won't be as easy once they get to the World Cup. The Dutch knew their impressive display in the qualifiers would have been expunged from most memories by the time they arrived in India.

As things stand they will not play a competitive match before that happens. "We'll go back home and try and put a couple of fixtures together," Ryan Cook said. "They don't have any at the moment on the international circuit. This is a call out to anyone who wants to play us. We'd love to have a fixture or two. Our guys have not been to the subcontinent many times before. It would be good to have some fixtures somewhere in the subcontinent as well."

Financial backing, too, was thin on the ground for the men in orange. "The 50-over World Cup, in particular, presents an opportunity of playing India and other countries in India. That brings a lot of eyeballs to the screens. Hopefully we will be able to pick up a sponsor or two, and bring a bit more revenue into the game. It will take a bit of work from our end, and here's a full invitation to any sponsors out there who feel like being on the front and the side of the shirt in the World Cup."

No such pleas and promises were made after the game that was played between the pitch table and the boundary on the northern side of the ground on Saturday. HSC's groundstaff have prepared the surface and the outfield for 10 matches in 22 days, and they have done so expertly and unerringly. Secure in the knowledge that they knew what they were doing with only the final to play, they pitched stumps in the outfield and spent some time in the sun enjoying the fruits of their hard work. Neither torpor nor twitchiness was in evidence.