JOIN USHis dismissal soon after lunch started the Sri Lankan collapse and Lahiru Thirimanne said the team was disappointed to fritter away the advantage after having done all the hard work in the morning.
Placed well at 224/3 in 81 overs at lunch with Thirimanne and Angelo Mathews then batting on 57 and 72 respectively, the Lankans collapsed to 306 all out in 108 overs. “It was doing a little bit for the fast bowlers but after the first half an hour it was really flat but Ashwin and (Amit) Mishra bowled really well at the time. We batted through that period really well but we couldn’t capitalise on the start we got,” said Thirmanne at the post match press conference.
“As the day went on there was some turn for the spinners but when they got the second new ball we threw the advantage away losing 2-3 wickets. We knew we had to get a 350-plus score in the first innings but we couldn’t do that hopefully we can get some early wickets tomorrow morning.”
Earmarked for the No 3 slot, the highly-rated Thirimanne will return to the slot when Kumar Sangakkara calls time on his international career after this match. “Number three is very important position in any format of cricket. I will be working really hard to fulfil the No 3 position for Sri Lanka, hopefully it’s a good start for me to carry on.”