Lankans looking to put things back on track
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Head Coach Chandika Hathurusinghe and Batting Coach Thilan Samaraweera share a light moment with Kusal Mendis during the Sri Lanka team's practice session in Colombo - Pic by Amila Gamage
As Sri Lanka and South Africa are set to lock-horns for the final time in the ODI series today at the R Premadasa Stadium each wanting to prove a point, home captain Angelo Mathews believes he can make a big impact in the remainder of the series and put things back on track.
This weeks victory in the fourth ODI was Sri Lanka’s first in 11 encounters against South Africa, and they will go in search for another win for a more respectable 3-2 series defeat. Sri Lanka won the Test series 2-0.
The ODI series will be followed by a one-off T20 international which will conclude South Africa’s six-weeks-long tour to the island.
“Yes, I am not completely satisfied with my own performance,” Mathews said on the eve of the final ODI. “But I am hitting the ball well at nets and hopefully, I can make a big impact in the next couple of games.”
Mathews who returned to the side after being sidelined for more than six months due to a calf injury made a painstaking unbeaten 79 off 111 balls in the second ODI as Sri Lanka only managed to set a below par total for the visitors to chase down. In the next two matches, Mathews hit 32 and 22 respectively. He made 5 in the series opener.
“But if you look at the second and third games, I had to adjust my game according to the conditions and also to the situation as I was batting at number five. Like I said, I cannot be satisfied with what I have done in the series but I know I am slowly getting there,” Mathews who plays as a specialist batsman said.
Mathews who became only the 10th Sri Lankan to score 5000 or more career limited-over runs, also played his 200th ODI match during the series, a feat only 13 other Sri Lankan’s have achieved before.
Commenting on team’s performance in the series Mathews said the team needs all round improvements to be really a competitive side going forward, even though Sri Lanka won the rain curtailed fourth ODI by a close three-runs.
“I wouldn’t say it was a clinical performance by us,” he added. “We have lot more to improve as we are heading towards the World Cup. So we need to improve in all three aspects–batting, bowling and fielding, if we are to be really competitive. But one thing is clear, we are surely getting their. You can see the intent and the aggression of the players. It just that we make too many mistakes all round and if we can reduce those, I think we are as good as anyone”.
Having bagged the series after they completed three straight wins in the series, South Africa decided to test their bench strengths during the remainder of the series. With Faf du Plessis out injured the captaincy was handed to Quinton de Kock and he would be keen to finish the series with a win to carry the momentum to the T20 match.
As part of team’s World Cup preparations, Sri Lanka decided to play the current series on batting friendly tracks rather than those spinning tracks and Mathews expects a similar batting friendly surface for the final match.
“What we have usually done when teams like England, South Africa and Australia arrives to give them dusty tracks.We could have done that in the series but by doing so what are we going to achieve. This is why we took this bold decision to play on good batting surfaces which is what we are going to get during the World Cup,” he explained.
| Sri Lanka | |
| Angelo Mathews (Captain), Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Upul Tharanga, Kusal Mendis, Thisara Perera, Niroshan Dickwella, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha, Akila Dananjaya, Prabath Jayasuriya, Lakshan Sandakan, and Shehan Jayasuriya
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| South Africa | |
| Hashim Amla, Junior Dala, Quinton de Kock (Captain/wk), JP Duminy , Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Lungisani Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi.
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