Lanka takes on West Indies today

Sanga cautions team against complacency

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

NOTTINGHAM: Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara cautioned his team not to get too carried away by their six-wicket win against Australia in their opening ICC World Twenty20 Group C match at Trent Bridge on Monday as they prepared themselves to take on West Indies in another group game today (Wednesday) at the same venue.

With their win over Australia, Sri Lanka are assured of a place in the next round of the competition the Super Eight along with the West Indies, but nothing would please them more than to beat the Caribbeans and top the group which would ensure they play all their Super Eight matches in London.
It was a memorable start for Sangakkara on his debut as Sri Lanka captain capping it with a win and the man-of-the-match award, guiding his team to beat the best side in the world Australia with an unbeaten knock of 55 off 42 balls.
“The key is to make sure you don’t get too carried away or get too far ahead of yourself. In Twenty20 cricket any day can be your day or the opposition’s. You’ve got to make sure you are up to it every single day,” said Sangakkara.
“I don’t think we are on a higher level although we won today. Cricket’s a great leveller. Tomorrow it’s a completely different game. We don’t think this win will carry us to the tournament. I think we are going to be surprised and mistaken if we think that way,” the Lankan captain continued.
“We’ve got to treat every game as a fresh one, take the confidence and belief with us, practice and prepare hard. We’ve got to be prepared for things really not to go your way every single time you play,” he said.
Sri Lanka would most probably retain the same winning combination for today’s game against West Indies which means the world’s No. 1 ranked one-day bowler Nuwan Kulasekera may have to sit out another game.
“Leaving Kulasekera out of the West Indies match was one of the toughest decisions we had to make. It had nothing to do with his form. He is our best bowler going around and he’s been batting magnificently for us and one of our ace performers over the last year. But again only 11 can play and we’ve got to make tough decisions to suit the make up of the side depending on the sides we play,” said Sangakkara.
“We’ve been talking about our line-up and our balance seven batsmen seem to be the way to go. It’s good to have Angelo Mathews who can bowl seam quite well. For Isuru Udana, a young guy who’s played one season of first-class cricket and then come into the game against Australia and do what he did takes a lot of character. It’s a case of giving these guys exposure and the confidence needed to keep going out there and believing in themselves,” he said.
Mathews and Udana created an impression on their Twenty20 International debuts. Mathews provided the initial breakthrough by removing Aussies danger man David Warner for a duck. Udana although expensive in his four overs going for 47 runs struck vital blows by getting rid of Michael Clarke (11) and David Hussey (28).
But the bowler who really put the brakes on the Aussies batting was Ajantha Mendis whom they encountered for the first time.
“Mendis was magnificent. A spin bowler coming and bowling four overs for 20 runs and three wickets you can’t ask for more than that. The Aussies had never seen him before and he made the impact that was expected of him,” said Sangakkara. “For us he and Murali are key bowlers. Batsmen will get on top of him some days but more often he is an attacking and wicket-taking bowler. In a Twenty20 game when you really have to attack every ball, to have that unpredictability and mystery around him is good.”
Turning his attention to the win over Australia, Sangakkara said: “It feels really great to beat a side like Australia. We walked out believing we can win and we’ve come out that way. The key to playing strong sides is to make sure that you have 15 squad members and all the members and management believe 100 percent that you can win. Our preparation has been very good. But there are a few areas I have to brush up and improve. Hopefully we can put on an even better performance in the next game.”
Although Tillakaratne Dilshan set the pace in the run chase with a sizzling 53 off 32 balls, Sangakkara stated that Chamara Silva’s knock of 11 off 11 balls and Jehan Mubarak’s unbeaten 21 which included two huge sixes of Australia’s ace bowler Brett Lee changed the game for Sri Lanka.
The captain also praised the support he got from the rest of his team members and staff. “We got a great think tank in the team – Mahela who’s been an absolutely wonderful captain, Sanath Jayasuriya, Muralitharan, Dilshan and three coaches who are excellent in their own areas. Everyone plays a part in our planning. It’s a great honour to lead the country and it’s great to win.”