JOHANNESBURG, March 9: Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore says it is up to Mahela Jayawardene to wrench himself out of his World Cup form-slump.

The leading 25-year-old batsman has endured a miserable tournament, with 16 runs from five innings including a three-ball duck against Australia at Centurion on Friday.

Whatmore said that he and his coaching staff had worked hard on the problem but the key lay within the player.

“He has to come out of it himself,” Whatmore told reporters as he reflected on Sri Lanka’s 96-run loss to the world champions.

“We have been giving him as much help as we can and he has batted in every net session.

“He is more disappointed than anyone else but that is the way it goes sometimes. He is a special player and his contribution has been sadly missed.”

Whatmore said that Jayawardene, averaging more than 47 in Tests and more than 30 in his 138 One-day Internationals, was handling the situation well.

“His confidence is pretty low but he’s a realist, he’s not emotional about something like that.

“Nevertheless, you sometimes wonder where the next run is coming from, although every batsman goes through that patch.”

If captain Sanath Jayasuriya, however, fails to recover from a bruised left forearm and chipped thumb bone suffered against Australia, Sri Lanka’s selectors may prefer to retain Jayawardene rather than bring in two new batsmen.

New Zealand’s win against Zimbabwe in Bloemfontein on Saturday pushed Sri Lanka out of the top four in the Super Six table — Australia have 16 points, India 12, Kenya 10 and New Zealand eight to the Sri Lankan’s 7.5. The Sri Lankans’ last second-phase game is against Zimbabwe.—Reuters