
Cuttack: Sri Lanka suffered their worst defeat in T20Is after India crushed them by 93 runs in the series opener and senior batsman Upul Tharanga said the team must show some fight in the remaining matches of the tour.
Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bowl on a dew-laden
Barabati Stadium, but proved no match to India as they were
bundled out for a paltry 87 while chasing 181 yesterday.
"It's tough to be on the losing side but we still have to
show some fight. We did all right in the one-day series but
here we are disappointed," Tharanga said in the post-match
news conference yesterday.
In their 100th T20I appearance, the Sri Lankan innings
folded in 16 overs after man-of-the-match Yuzvendra Chahal
triggered their collapse with a 4/23, before Hardik Pandya
ripped through the tail claiming 3/29.
"I am very disappointed with the way we batted. We should
have batted 20 overs. Losing is okay but we have to get close
to the target. The main thing is we could not compete."
"While bowling, we started well but in the middle and
death overs we gave too many boundary balls and momentum
shifted to India," Tharanga said.
Asked whether the team was missing senior players,
Tharanga said it was the best possible squad available.
"This is the best team at the moment. We missed a lot of
players because of injuries in the last few series but
everyone is here.
"I do not think we are missing anyone. It is about being
consistent in all the three departments -- batting, bowling
and fielding," he said.
Tharanga also revealed that former Test cricketer Thilan
Samaraweera helped him with his batting techniques and the
left-hander has benefited from the advice.
"Samaraweera has played a lot of cricket with me. He has
seen me batting from the close quarters and he said I should
change my batting stance."
"He asked me why I changed my foot movement. Now with my
new batting stance, I am getting a bit of rhythm and the
credit goes to Thilan," Tharanga, who scored a 82-ball 95 in
the third ODI in Visakhapatnam, said.
Having lost the Test series 1-0, Sri Lanka faced a 1-2
defeat in the ODIs and trail 1-0 in the T20Is.
The second and third T20Is of the series are slated in
Indore (December 22) and Mumbai (December 24) respectively.
PTI