Published: Mar 26, 2017, 05:07 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 26, 2017, 05:48 PM (IST)
Following an embarrassing 90-run loss against visitors Bangladesh in the opening One-Day International (ODI) tie at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium on Saturday, hosts Sri Lanka’s captain Dinesh Chandimal clearly stated that the Lankans cannot use the excuse of ‘transition period’ anymore. Sri Lanka gave away 109 runs in the final 10 overs of the Bangladesh innings, as the visitors finished on a challenging total of 324 for the loss of 5 wickets, while the hosts never really managed to chase it down. Chandimal, along with Thisara Perera, managed to score their respective half-centuries, but failed to guide Lanka to a win, therefore suffering their 6th consecutive ODI loss following the whitewash against South Africa. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh 2016-17, 1st ODI at Dambulla
“You can’t say every time that this is our transition period. We need to put our hands up and come up with results. All players should take responsibility for the opportunities they get. The players are all working hard, and hopefully we’ll be able to see the results soon. If we had restricted them for 280, we could have done something with the bat, but we were sloppy in the field. We do lot of fielding training, but there’s pressure when we come into the game. There are several young players and there could be mistakes. But we are doing our training well and we are looking forward to sharpen up our fielding for the next two games,” said Chandimal, as reported by ESPNCricinfo.
“Had we batted first after winning the toss and things backfired, that could have been also wrong. It was a team decision to bat second. We saw that there was dew there over last two days and we wanted to make most of it. But the dew didn’t come into play today, and things didn’t go our way,” added Chandimal. “When I first came into the side, we beat them easily. But if you take the new Bangladesh, they have seven to eight players who have been playing international cricket, and since that group has been playing together, they have a lot of experience,” he concluded.
