Bayliss exudes confidence
Sri Lanka have a poor record at home against India in one-day cricket over the last two years, but coach Trevor Bayliss said that would hardly play on the team’s minds going into Saturday’s final of the tri-series.
India have triumphed in two bilateral series in that period, won the final of a tri-series last year and clinched the Asia Cup at this same venue in June, but Bayliss pointed out, “We have beaten them in number of games. They are a strong opposition and a very good team.
Both teams have won one game each in this tournament. It’s going to be 50-50 going into the final. We have played some good cricket in this series. A lot of batters have struggled here. Hopefully, we can put a good total on the board, bowl well and knock their batters over.”
The general consensus is that batting under lights in Dambulla is a difficult proposition, but three of five games so far have been won by teams chasing. “We too have won batting second, under lights,” the Australian observed.
“We realize that whatever we do, bat first or bowl first, we need to adjust to conditions. We are getting the hang of that in this tournament -- taking on board what you’ve got to do and working accordingly. Bat first or second, if you can get over that first 10 or 15 overs, you can get through a decent score. That period will be key.”
Sri Lanka have just eight one-dayers between now and the World Cup but Bayliss said that wouldn’t hamper their preparations. “We are going to Australia and then we will be hosting the West Indies,” he said.
“Then the boys have the domestic inter-provincial tournament in January. We have played a lot of cricket in the last year or two. We need to be fresh as well going into the World Cup. They are not going to forget how to play international cricket by not playing international cricket just before the World Cup. We have some practice games as well. We have got a few things to clean up. It’s not too much of an issue, not playing international cricket five or six weeks before the tournament.”
