The T20 series which was held in connection with the New Zealand team's tour to Sri Lanka ended yesterday (10th) night with both teams winning one match each. Accordingly, Sri Lanka won the first match of the tournament by 4 wickets and New Zealand won by 5 runs in the second match.
However, speaking to the media after the defeat of the second match, Sri Lanka T20 captain Charith Asanka said that the Sri Lankan batsmen are directly responsible for the defeat of the second match.Speaking further, the Sri Lankan captain said, 'In this match, mainly New Zealand's good bowling and skillful fielding contributed to the victory. But I think our experienced batting line-up, including myself, should have been more cautious.
Also, before starting this chase, we said that even if the number of runs is low, we should not take it easy and engage in batting. But there may be days like this. Not everything happens the way we think. Extra runs should be reduced as much as possible, especially in an ODI or T20 match.But in the previous match too, the additional points increased a little. We expected to keep less in this match as well. But as a team, we should not expect anything more from bowling. In other words, limiting any team to 108 runs in a T20 match is a very good thing.According to me, all the batsmen including myself are directly responsible for the defeat. I see the moment when Kusal Janith, myself and Kamindu Mendis were dismissed as the most decisive moment of the match.'
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan spinner Vanindu Hasaranga suffered a leg injury during the second T20 match that ended yesterday.
The Sri Lankan leader also commented on Wanindu in this press conference. 'Wanidu's participation in the ODI series is uncertain. I don't think he will play in the ODI series.'
However, in the first match as well as in the second match, the New Zealand batsmen got into the running and they had the opportunity to create some challenging scoreboards. Accordingly, the Sri Lankan captain, who gave an answer to a question regarding the relevant matter, said, 'We have used the best bowlers here.
But in the matches played in Dambulla, it was seen that batting became easier when the hardness of the ball decreased. Therefore, it was possible to see the back row batsmen batting well.'
Answering a question about the Dambulla pitch used for these matches, Asanka said this.This is a difficult pitch to score on. Also, it is very difficult for the batsmen to play on such pitches. Accordingly, we always talk about making the right decisions. Similarly, in countries like England and Australia, we get swinging pitches.
It is difficult to collect points in them. There you have to bat well to face the fast bowlers. Similarly, when playing in countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, you should be prepared to face the spinners well. Accordingly, batsmen should be ready to score under any conditions.'
Commenting on Sri Lankan spinners, Asanka said as follows. Our spinners are much stronger than New Zealand's spinners. Mahish Theekshana and Vanindu Hasaranga are also very high in the rankings.
Accordingly, I and the team always believe that our strength is the spinners. At the same time, more responsibility is given to the batsmen. In other words, the batsmen should make sure to score runs with more responsibility on a difficult pitch like Sri Lanka.'
