Friday May 03, 2024
Friday May 03, 2024
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Sri Lanka’s debutant Dunith Wellalage is congratulated by wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis and team members after taking his first ODI wicket that of Australia’s Steve Smith.
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
Top order batsman Kusal Mendis said that he was confident that based on his team’s performance in the first ODI at Pallekele on Tuesday, Sri Lanka can beat Australia in the remaining four matches of the five-game series.
Mendis stroked his way to an unbeaten 86 - an innings on which Sri Lanka built a substantial total of 300-7 but lost the contest by two wickets when Australia’s target was revised to 288 off 44 overs when rain interrupted the match during their innings.
“There were a lot of good things that came out of the match in batting and bowling. I don’t think it is difficult to beat the Australians,” said Mendis at the post-match media conference.
“If we can win this one (the second ODI today) when we go back to Colombo for the remaining three games, we will be able to give them a good fight. It won’t be easy for them because we have shown how good we are. If we can rectify our mistakes, we made in the first match I don’t see any reason why we can’t beat them.”
Giving reasons for the defeat in the first ODI, Mendis said, “The wicket was turning before the rains came and after that with the dew it became a bit easy to bat on. I am not laying the blame on the rain for our defeat because if we had bowled tightly, we could have got them out. We gave away some easy runs and with the dew the bowlers also found it difficult to grip the ball. There were small mistakes, some of them on our part as well.”
Questioned about the new role given to him by the selectors as the wicketkeeper for white ball cricket, Mendis said, “When I played under 19 and for the club, I have kept wickets so it is not something new to me as I have performed that role before. If we bowl first, I can get an idea of how the wicket is playing when I go out to bat. That way there is also an advantage when you keep wickets.”
Mendis said that he was pleased with his knock of 86* in his first ODI since January against Zimbabwe. “I am happy that I was able to score the runs and help the team achieve a good total. I think the role I have been given I performed to the best of my ability. I was able to give the team what was required of me.”
Mendis was of the view that Dunith Wellalage who made his ODI debut at the age of 19 had a great future ahead of him.
“What I’ve noticed about him is that he did not show any signs of nervousness that he was playing his first ODI for his country. He actually played it like a normal cricket match. Whenever a senior player told him something he was able to do it. From that you can gauge that he was not excited that he was playing his first match.
That is a good sign because we know he can handle pressure very well. It’s good to see a 19-year-old playing in that manner. He took two wickets, the first of which was Steven Smith. It would have brought him a lot of satisfaction to get a wicket of a batsman of Smith’s calibre. We cannot judge how good he is after just one match, but I am sure he has a good future ahead of him.”
