Mahela Jayawardene disappointed over T20 loss to India

Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene was disappointed over his team’s failure to chase 150-odd runs in the one-off Twenty20 match against India at Pallekele on Tuesday.

Batting first, the Men in Blue posted a good total of 155 runs on the board. Although the tourists lost in-form Gautam Gambhir early, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina managed things nicely to fish the side out of the troubled waters. Kohli smashed a quick innings
of 68 runs, while Raina added 34 runs to the total.

In reply, the islanders were never in position to put the opposition under pressure. Jayawardene did well at the top order, scoring 26 off 19 balls. Angelo Mathews was the only one to create some problems for India, as he scored 31 runs.

The Sri Lankans kept losing wickets on regular basis and as a result, collapsed on 116 runs. The dejected captain admitted that it was an achievable target, and his team performed below standards.

Jayawardene said in the after-match presentation: "We thought 150 was achievable. We’re making a lot of mistakes. We’e still playing good cricket. When you come across a team like India it is tough. The SLPL should be a good preparation for the World T20."

On the other hand, Mahendra Singh Dhoni was happy with his bowlers’ performance. He described that the ball was swinging, and the bowlers did well to make the best use of the conditions.

"Overall we were really good. The ball was swinging till the 20th over so not easy to slog. We thought we were 15 short. Our strength is having the 7th batsman in the side. The wickets have changed here. When I first came here the ball used to stop a lot.
But now the pitches have been relaid. I think we mastered our bowling and batting better than them," he said after the match.

Irfan Pathan, the ‘Man of the Match’ said on his good performance: "Wickets at the top of the order help. Mahela was going great guns. The ball was swinging and we knew that if we got wickets, it would be difficult for the SL batsmen. Our bowling coach has
been keeping a good eye on us. God has been kind to me. I want to continue my good form."

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Posted by Rana Nasir Ghafoor on Aug 8 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry