Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka cut a disappointing figure after his team were skittled out for just 95 runs against England in their first Super 8 match at Pallekele. He, however, said that it was mostly down to his batters batting badly than England bowling brilliance.
“Clearly, it’s very disappointing, but at the same time, we had a lot of positives in the ball. So I think we kept them towards a total which was at least 20 runs under par. I expected my players to bat well. A combination of all the things (on the reasons for the low-scoring contest). I think the pitch played well. Certainly, it was a bit slow in the first innings, but with the lights on, it settled a bit. I wouldn’t say they bowled really well, we batted badly. We played some poor shots in critical intervals,” he said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
England skipper Harry Brook also said that there were no demons in the pitch and credited the spinners from both sides for taking advantage of the situation.
“I didn’t think there were really any demons on the pitch. I think the spinners on both sides used the pace really well, and that’s what brought a lot of wickets. We saw how it was behaving in the first innings and lack of pace was creating chances. So we had a good chat about that before going out and we adapted to the surface really well. It was just slow,” he said.
Chasing a modest 147, Sri Lanka were reduced to 34 for five inside the powerplay after Will Jacks (3/22) struck twice in two balls and Jofra Archer (2/20) unsettled the top order.
Pathum Nissanka (9), Kamil Mishara (6), Kusal Mendis (4) and Pavan Rathnayake (0) all fell for single-digit scores as nothing went right for Sri Lanka to be bundled out for 95 in 16.4 overs.
Earlier, a disciplined Sri Lanka restricted England to 146/9 after opting to bowl. Opener Phil Salt top-scored for England with a brisk 62 off 40 balls.
Sri Lanka were clinical with the ball, with left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage (3/26), the tidy Maheesh Theekshana (2/21) and Dilshan Madushanka (2/25) leading the charge.
