Sri Lanka got off to winning start against Ireland in the first match of their T20 World Cup 2022 campaign.
Winning skipper, Dasun Shanaka said-
Really happy with the way we’ve played the game, we set out to do some things and did well. We knew spin would play a major role, we knew they’d like pace, so we kept a lot of spin for the back-end. He has been consistent this year (on Kusal Mendis), has played according to the situation most of the times, that’s the area he has improved. That consistency which Sri Lanka needed for a long time, that gives us a luxury. Death bowling is a key area, the start with the bat is very important and that’s where we can take positives going ahead. Thankful to the supporters who came to back us today.
Losing skipper, Andrew Balbirnie said-
We knew that spin was a big threat, it wasn’t turning big, but they bowled well and we’re disappointed. Fell well short after batting first, never really in the game from there on. We knew that spin on a used wicket was a threat. so we backed ourselves to bat first. He is one of our top players (on Harry Tector), the in-form player in the middle-order, especially in the 50-over format. A lot of us wouldn’t have played at that venue ( at the MCG), one of the biggest in the world, a great city and we’ll look to enjoy the pressure. Had a great time over here and am thankful for all the support.
Player of the match Kusal Mendis said:
The bowlers did really well to limit them to a low score and I just played my game. I was just told to play the first 6 overs and then continue, the aim basically was to last 10 overs, but we were chasing a low score. We wanted to win within 17 overs, Charith (Asalanka) told me to not put myself under any pressure.
