Chandimal confident despite initial setback
Knowing the consequences of losing a series, Dinesh Chandimal and his team are determined to put up a better show against the South Africans, in the second T20 international at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota, today.
Sri Lanka’s youngest skipper strongly believes that he and his band can make amends to Friday night’s folly.
Another brick falls off the new wall. - Pic by Shantha Ratnayake
Another Proteas win would mean not only Sri Lanka losing the series but also losing five rating points and staying just one rating point ahead of Pakistan in the T20 ranking table.
“We’re still ranked number one team in the world as far as T20 cricket is concerned. So that we have a great responsibility here to safeguard our place as number one team”
“We have two more games to play and we’ll be doing our best to remain there” Chandimal told reporters at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, on Saturday evening.
Sri Lankans are willing to go back to their basics and take it match by match. Once they finish the game on Sunday, they’ll think about the other.
“I think, the next game is very important for us since we’re in a must-win situation here to keep our place secure” said Chandimal.
After being out on injury time, seamer Nuwan Kulasekera is back on the frame. Taking the windy conditions in this Southern coastal area, Nuwan’s skills as a swing bowler would come into focus this evening. Skipper Chandimal hinted that Kulasekara has a good opportunity to make it to the final eleven. “He has a great chance to play here. This is a very important game for us”.
“If we’re to stay in the series, we have to win this game. So we’ll field our best team tomorrow” Chandimal said.
As usual, the computer analyst of the Sri Lanka team, processes various data and puts them in different perspectives. With this in mind the skipper and coach Graeme Ford had a close look at the wicket and the surroundings last evening.
Despite the skills being lopsided in favour of the seniors so far in the series, Chandimal still believes in his youngsters.
“This is a good opportunity for us to try out our youngsters. There’s not much time left for the next World T20. We sincerely hope them to be in the limelight and win their places in the national team” Chandimal said.
The skipper also reiterated that he will not depend solely on his seamers in the ‘death overs’. He said, “It all depends upon which bowler has the control over the opposing batsmen tomorrow night. I used Ajantha Mendis in the first T20, in the death overs. South Africans have a sort of weakness against the spin. On those grounds, we use more spinners against them. But still, since we have some very good fast bowlers, as the captain I may think that a fast bowler could do the job for us” Chandimal said.
The match begins at 7.00pm today. South Africa leads the three-match series 1-0.
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