Sri Lanka was able to win by 3 wickets in the crucial second match of the ODI series which is being held in connection with the New Zealand team's tour of Sri Lanka.
One innings was limited to 47 overs due to the interruption of rain at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. Accordingly, the New Zealand team, who scored the first runs at the invitation of Sri Lanka, could collect only 209 runs in 45.1 overs.It was notable that the Sri Lankan team, which pursued that goal, achieved it by losing only 7 wickets in 46 overs. Kusal Mendis scored an unbeaten 74 runs and Mahish Thiekshana scored an unbeaten 27 runs to take Sri Lanka to victory.Accordingly, Sri Lanka was able to win the series 2-0 with one match remaining in the 3-match ODI series. However, this victory went down in history after 12 years as Sri Lanka's ODI win against New Zealand in a bilateral ODI series.
Meanwhile, speaking to the media after the match, Sri Lankan spinner Mahish Thiekshana said that the self-confidence of all the team is currently at a very high level. Thiekshana further said, 'More than previous years, we understood our strength and played this year.
We are playing well especially under Sri Lankan conditions. Even though the pitches in most of the matches were wobbly, our batsmen fulfilled their responsibilities. Also, the team has some talented additional players. Compared to the last 3 years, some competition has been created among the players.If we don't play well, we can easily get kicked out of the team. In order to stay in the team in that situation, everyone has to play well. The team now has that competition, which was not there in the last three years. Also, even the bowlers are ready to engage in batting to some extent.Accordingly, we know that even if one person fails, another batsman will finish the match responsibly.'
This is what Teekshana, who expressed his opinion about the plans used at the time of hitting the ball with Kusal, said this.At that time, both of us had the idea to take the match to the last over as much as possible. Also, due to the score in the last part of the innings, there was some ease in batting. There they gave Kusal the chance to score easily at every turn. Their goal was to burn me.However, we reached the target by scoring fours from weak balls.'
Teekshan, who answered a question about winning the toss and giving New Zealand the opportunity to bat, said, 'That decision was taken because the weather forecast stated that it would rain in the evening.We know bowling is very difficult after rain. But it didn't rain as much as expected. Moreover, when they bowled, there was more spin on the pitch than when we bowled.'
