Poor fielding let us down, says Kumar
Shirajiv Sirimane in India
Sri Lanka threw away a chance to win the second Twenty20
international against India due to sloppy fielding at the Mohali stadium
on Sunday in front of a record crowd. Sri Lankan skipper Kumar
Sangakkara said that scoring 207 for 6 was a winning total. “However we
dropped vital catches and missed out a few run outs which let the chance
of victory slip away from us,” he confessed.
He said that the both Lasith Malinga and Dilhara Fernando bowled well
and in the first six overs Sri Lanka had India under their control. “The
bowlers created opportunities and stuck to their plan. However, the
fielders let us down,” he accused.
Both Sanath and Dilhara Fernando did not call which resulted a loose
shot of Sehwag falling in no man’s land after the ball being airborne
for a long time. In addition to three other dropped opportunities Sri
Lanka also missed two certain run outs.
In one instance, Mathews had an opportunity to run down Yuvraj and he
threw at the bowlers end. Had he thrown to the wicket keeper the hero of
the match would have been a non entity.
Sanath Jayasuriya who wheeled his arm to send down an economical
spell and capture two wickets and swing the first Twenty20 match in
favour of the Sri Lanka was not given to bowl until the final stages of
the match. “It was a very tough decision,” Sangakkara admitted.
“Even when Indian spinners were bowling Sri Lanka managed to get past
the 200 mark and we thought to continue with pace,” he explained.
Birthday boy Yuvraj was named man of the match for taking three for
23 of three overs and then scoring an unbeaten 60 off just 25 deliveries
which included three boundaries and five perfectly executed sixes.
Sangakkara gave him full credit for this fine all round performance
which guided the home team to level the Twenty20 series. “Sri Lanka
tried very hard but Yuvraj took the game away from us.”
Sangakkara no stranger to the Mohali stadium starring in the Punjab
team was full of praise for the pitch and well laid ground and thanked
the staff for a job well done.
Yuvraj the hero of the match said that this win was his best birthday
gift for him. “I was not playing well for some time and my coach gave me
some guidelines which worked perfectly for me,” he said.
He also said that team is taking extra precautions against swine flu
which has put Sreesanth out of action. |
