Canada coach Pubudu Dassanayake said his team needs to shrug off their World Cup stage fright after slumping to a humiliating 210-run defeat against Sri Lanka.
Published: Feb 21, 2011, 03:15 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 21, 2011, 03:15 PM (IST)
Canada’s Jimmy Hansra dives for the ball during their Group A match vs Sri Lanka in the 2011 Cricket World Cup, at the Suriyawewa Mahinda Rajapakse International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota, on February 20. Coach Pubudu Dassanayake later said his team needs to shrug off their stage fright after slumping to a humiliating 210-run defeat.
Hambantota: Feb 21, 2011
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Canada coach Pubudu Dassanayake said his team needs to shrug off their World Cup stage fright after slumping to a humiliating 210-run defeat against Sri Lanka.
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“It was disappointing that we didn’t live up to the promise we showed against England last week,” said the Sri Lanka-born coach, referring to his team’s narrow 16-run defeat in the warm-up match in Bangladesh.
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“The only postive is that some of the young players are now exposed against a big team before a large crowd which will help them in future. Hopefully we will do better in the next game which is in India where we practised a lot last year,” said Dassanayake, whose team next plays Zimbabwe in Nagpur on February 28.
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Dassanayake praised man-of-the-match Mahela Jayawardene, who hit a quickfire 100, and Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara (92) after the duo put on 179 for the third wicket as the home team piled up 332-7.
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“We are a good bowling side and we bowled well until the 25th over but after that two great players, Mahela and Sangakkara, took the game away from us and we were under the pressure of a big total,” said the Canadian coach.
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© AFP
