Staff Writers
Lahiru Thirimanne believes Sri Lanka must promptly get over the embarrassing defeat to New Zealand in their first match of the World Cup and learn from their mistakes on a green track in Cardiff.
New Zealand’s pace attack were without injured Tim Southee but exploited helpful conditions to bowl out Sri Lanka for 136 at Cardiff Wales Stadium.
[ Watch: Highlights – Sri Lanka v New Zealand, Cricket World Cup, 2019 ]
Thirimanne admitted batting was tough in bowler-friendly conditions in Cardiff, where Sri Lanka will face Afghanistan in their next match.
“It was tough conditions, to be honest, but we batted very poorly,” he said. “We could have easily got to 250 and had a good fight, but we couldn’t manage to do that. We have another game in this ground so we know what to expect and we should be able to adapt to conditions quicker.
“We are playing in England, so sometimes you have to expect the ball to move around and for it to be tough. That’s how cricket goes sometimes. The best thing we can do is put this game behind us but we need to learn from it.”
Thirimanne bore the brunt of early seam and swing, and was trapped lbw by a Matt Henry in-swinger off the second ball of the game.
The 29-year-old, without a one-day cap in nearly two years, is capable of run-getting in these conditions as was proven by his warm-up half-century against a tough Australian attack earlier this week.
As Sri Lanka navigate their way through eight further World Cup matches, skipper Dimuth Karunaratne provided a perfect example of circumspection at the crease, and Thirimanne encouraged his team-mates to model their batting approach after their captain who has returned to the side in good form after a four-year absence from ODIs.
“Dimuth is the example to follow,” Thirimanne said. “It’s not easy as an opener. I know it’s very difficult to bat in these conditions but he fought very hard. We knew that New Zealand have a very good bowling attack.
“They capitalised on conditions really well. The mood is very good, because we knew this wasn’t our day. We can’t let our heads get down and walk away. We have to come back strongly.”
© ICC
Not sure how tough the conditions were unless NZ batted on a different wicket! Yes it was a green but it wasn’t a 130 wicket but we saw this coming a mile away and there will be more to come AND this has been the story of SL for a while. May be not 130 all out but timid batting. Flashy 30’s from a few, may be 50 here and there and good for 250 we are!
@Stormy, precisely! But that has often been our experience in that part of the world, where, when we bat it’s a minefield, and when we bowl, it’s a flat track! And that was certainly no minefield despite the colour. As Sanga mentioned in his commentary, clarity of thought is very important for a batsman and that was clearly lacking. Way too many of them were playing across the line from ball one without playing themselves in, and Thiri and Jeevan lasted only a couple of balls as a result. I have been a big fan of Dhananjaya but his total lack of footwork is cause for serious alarm.
However, what was particularly stupid was the mindset after the dismissal of Jeevan in the 16th over. Everyone was attempting to bat like Jos Butler despite the fact that there were still 34 loooong overs to go. Even Dimuth started to move around his crease like there were two overs left. As a fan, nothing cheesed me off more than this brain dead approach. Surely the approach should have been to bat out as close to the 50 overs as possible. In only the 2nd ball he faced, last man Malinga moves to the leg side to give himself room to smack the ball and is bowled. There were still 21 overs left for heavens sake, and you have your opening batsman at the other end to boot! Very frustrating!