The ODI fifty against Australia would turn out to be his penultimate – indeed, he only passed 35 once again, in the 1983 World Cup against Pakistan. However, it took him 127 balls, and when he was out at 162 for 3 Sri Lanka needed plenty of runs quickly. Despite a blitzing 26 from Ranjan Madugalle, Sri Lanka lost too many wickets to Abdul Qadir, and fell 11 runs short. After this, Wettimuny suffered a poor run of form, only scoring 115 runs at an average of 12.77 in the following nine matches. He was dropped from the team after the 1984–85 World Series Cup, but returned for one last match against India in 1986–87. He made 14 before being bowled by Raju Kulkarni.