I need to play longer innings: Dickwella

Niroshan Dickwella needs a big innings and longer 

stay at the stumps for a huge Sri Lankan score

• Sri Lanka vs. England 4th ODI today

By Shamseer Jaleel reporting from Pallekelle

Sri Lanka was well and beaten in the third One-Day International which took place at Pallekelle two days ago. 

England leads the series 2/0 and goes for the all-important fourth one today at the same venue with a day game. A win here will give the hosts a chance of a comeback and level the series with another win under their belt in Colombo. But, with the current form of the young England outfit, it looks an unlikely event for a Sri Lankan win and comeback in the series.

With the top order contributing runs for the first time in four matches, it›s the middle order that failed Sri Lanka in the shortened third ODI against England. Sri Lanka got a rock-solid opening partnership between Dickwella and Sadheera, but the middle order collapsed badly. Bowlers need to be spot on accurate in their approach.

Dickwella, speaking to media, said: «We got a good start, but we were 20-25 runs short. After being 92 for 2, it was 92 for 4 suddenly. That was the main turning point. If Thisara could have batted five overs at that time, we would have ended up with a score closer to 190. You can›t win a 21-over match with only 150 on the board. The ball was also wet because of the rain. If we had made 175, it could have been a winning score.»

Speaking further, he said: «In the last couple of matches, we didn›t get a big partnership from the top order. This time, we got that, but the middle order failed. That›s been happening for a while. When the top order scores, the middle order fails and vice versa. To get the optimal score, we need to click together.»

«I can›t be satisfied with my performance. A lot of times I get 30 or 40, but only about one in five games do I go on to get 70 or 80. Today was a shortened game, so it›s different. Once I got 30, I tried to keep going at the same tempo, because we had wickets in hand. But overall, when you look at my one-day cricket, even though I›ve got starts, I haven›t capitalised and turned them into big innings,» Dickwella added.

The fifth One-Day International and the T20 will be played at R. Premadasa Stadium before the teams battle it out in the three-Test series.