Dhoni credits bowlers
Inconsistency cost us dearly, says SL skipper Mahela
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni credited the fine show by his pacers and the presence of part-time bowling options for his side’s clinical 39-run win over Sri Lanka in the one-off Twenty20 international here on Wednesday.
Pacer Ashok Dinda produced a career-best effort of four for 19 while Irfan Pathan ably supported him with three for 27.
The part-time bowlers, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, also played a crucial role in slowing down the Lankan run-chase. They did not let their skipper down as the duo bowled four overs for 22 runs.
“Overall, we were really good. It was a good performance. We thought of a high scoring game but it was slightly different as the ball was swinging till the 20th over.
So it was not really easy to slog. We thought we were 10-15 runs short. Especially the way Sri Lankan team started, we thought that may be the case but our bowlers came back beautifully,” Dhoni said.
“They bowled in the right areas. It was important to take wickets and that’s what we did. The combination of Virat and Rohit was a big plus point for us.
“If you are looking to play with four specialist bowlers and a part-timer, they bowled well as a unit. If in four overs, they concede 30-35 runs, it’s ok with us. Our strength is having that seventh batsman in the side. Quite happy with the performance,” said the skipper.
Mahela unhappy
Having lost both the five-match ODI series 4-1 and one-off Twenty20 International, Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said inconsistency was the main reason behind his team’s dismal performance against India.
Following a dominating 4-1 triumph in the one-dayers, India beat Sri Lanka by 39 runs on Tuesday night in the one-off T20 International also at Pallekele.
“We lost our grip in the game just when it seemed we were under control,” Jayawardene told reporters after losing the match.
He also added that expectations were high from the Lankans to perform better against the world champions India after their success at home against Pakistan.
On the T20 game, Jayawardene said Lankans came back into the match in the last six overs, chasing over 150 to win.
“It was important for us to keep wickets intact. We failed to do that and the pressure was building.
“Even after playing an extra batsman we failed to preserve our wickets. We did not have batsmen to take us to victory because we lost too many wickets.”
