Sri Lanka’s new era in T20 cricket has started with a setback. Post T20 World Cup failure, Sri Lankan cricket has undergone some changes. Sanath Jayasuriya took the helm of the Sri Lankan team as Interim head coach. On the other hand, Charitha Asalanka was appointed as the captain of the T20 team. But they faced a heartbreaking defeat in the first T20I match against India. After the setback, Asalanka reflected on the game.
Sri Lanka’s early Struggle:
After an early exit in the T20 World Cup 2024, Sri Lanka is locking horns in a three-match T20 series against India. But in the first match, Sri Lanka faced a setback. While bowling in the first innings, the Sri Lankan bowlers struggled initially. In the powerplay, Team India scored 74 runs. That was a huge setback for the Sri Lankan side.
Yashasvi Jaiswal played an exciting innings of 40 runs in 21 balls. Gill added a quickfire of 34 runs in just 16 deliveries. Even after losing the first wicket, captain Suryakumar Yadav played a knock of 58 runs in 26 balls. Rishabh Pant also added 49 runs and missed the well-deserved half-century just by 1 run. They posted a total of 213/7 in 20 overs.
While talking about this, Sri Lankan skipper Charitha Asalanka talked about this. He said, “We were not up to the mark in the powerplay, but in the latter part, we came back pretty strong. Some stage, we thought they might get to 240, we did well.”
On Middle Order’s failure:
While chasing the big target of 214, Sri Lanka gave a promising start. Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka added 84 runs in the opening partnership. Mendis walked away after scoring 45 runs. Nissanka played an exciting knock of 79 runs in 48 balls. Kusal Perera added 20 runs.
In the 16th over, Sri Lanka was 158/4. But after that, the Indian bowlers dominated them as their middle order broke down.tAsalanka and Shanaka walked away on ducks. Hasaranga scored only 2 runs. Pathirana scored 6 runs. In the last over, they got all-out in 170 runs and faced a defeat by 43 runs.
While talking about their middle-order failure, Asalanka said, “Little disappointed with the way the middle-order batted, we could have done better. It’s an experiment, this is the way we should go in the future.”
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