Sri Lanka’s victory over tournament favorites and hosts England has provided the team with a good mindset ahead of their next three crucial games in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, says coach Chandika Hathurusingha.
Speaking to Ada Derana during practice sessions, he said that England are one of the strongest teams in the tournament and that they are also the host nation which makes the victory quite significant.
He said that the benefit for the team from that match is the fact that the two most experienced players in the team – Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga, managed to make huge contributions to win the match.
He said that it will give the players an immense confidence boost ahead of the other games.
Hathurusingha said that Sri Lanka are aware of the challenges it has to face against South Africa, who they will be playing next in the tournament’s group stage, as the two teams had played each other in a series recently.
He said that the Lankan team is preparing for those challenges and that even the players who have played against the Proteas have opinions as to how they should bowl and bat against them.
He said there are two things that need to happen for them to win. Sri Lanka have properly execute their game plane and the opposing team has to perform below their standards to win in cricket, he said.
Asked about the weaknesses of the Sri Lankan national team identified by him so far in the World Cup, he admitted that the team loses quick wickets while batting and that even when the openers get up to a good start the middle order batsmen fail to get enough runs.
However, he said that now the middle order batsmen are starting to get in the groove especially in the last two matches and that therefore he believes they will be able to get a good start and score plenty of runs in the next couple of matches.
Regarding the outstanding performance by Avishka Fernando against England, the Sri Lankan coach said that he believes the youngster’s innings is one of the best at this year’s World Cup.
He said that while Mathews and Malinga’s performances were a big factor in the win, the manner in which Avishka faced the English bowlers, when Sri Lanka were in danger having lost the two opening batsmen for just 3 runs, gave some much needed confidence for the entire team and the dressing room.
Hathurusinghe said it also put some pressure on the opposition team because Avishka’s innings prevented them from achieving what they wanted.
“I think it is one of the best innings in this World Cup although it was only 49 (runs). One of the best innings I have seen,” he said.
