A rather relieved Sri Lankan skipper T.M. Dilshan expressing his views to the media at the post match conference elaborated the need to improve in the bowling and fielding departments. Dilshan was quite confident that his squad could rise to the occasion on Saturday in the crucial day/night game in Colombo. Dilshan made it a point to stress on the difficult batting conditions during the initial stages of the third ODI.
“Even if we won the toss and put Australia into bat they too would have found it tough to accumulate runs initially” said Dilshan. “From all the pitches we have played so far this was the most difficult pitch to bat on” added the skipper. Explaining the absence of his injury prone deputy, Dilshan said that the non inclusion was more a precautionary measure than a serious injury concern.
“It was unfortunate that Kumar Sangakkara got out as we were well on top at that stage. However Mahela's contribution was timely and assured us of a healthy score. We sent Dinesh Chandimal early giving clear instructions to go for the quick runs” said Dilshan probably with the intent of justifying the ordinary shot selection of the talented youngster.
Australian skipper Michael Clarke blamed his top order batting for the crushing defeat. “We did not perform well enough at the top” said a dejected captain.
“As I have said before we cannot relax and there is much more scope for improvement. It’s not going to be easy dealing with a team like Sri Lanka in their own conditions and we know that you have to be at your best to beat them” said Clarke acknowledging the tough task that awaits them in the Colombo phase of the series.
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