MELBOURNE: After Sri Lanka defeated Australia in a must-win match to qualify for the tri-series final, captain Mahela Jayawardene said his players showed a “lot of character” to lift themselves up after the morale-shattering loss against India in their penultimate round-robin game.
After being thrashed by India on Tuesday, a battered Sri Lanka needed nothing less than a win against Australia at the MCG on Friday to seal their spot in the best-of-three finals against the home team, starting Sunday.
And the islanders managed to achieve their goal but not without some tense moments as they eked out a nail-biting nine-run victory over Australia that knocked India out of the tournament.
“The boys showed character (to bounce back after the defeat against India). (Before today’s match) we discussed in the dressing room ‘what has happened (against India) has happened’,” a jubilant Jayawardene said after the win.
“When chips were down you need to lift your game and that’s what the team has done,” he added.
Jayawardene also credited the vociferous Sri Lankan supporters present at the MCG on Friday for helping the team’s cause.
“Fantastic support, it’s like playing in Sri Lanka. I’m sure the crowd will follow us now, the lift that we got (from them), it pushed us in the last few overs.”
Australia’s stand-in-skipper, Shane Watson admitted that in the end David Hussey’s brilliance was not enough to see them through as they had lost “too many wickets in the middle overs”.
“A brilliant game of cricket. You never knew who was going to win, but we lost too many wickets in the middle,” Watson said.
Watson said he was sure regular captain Clarke will be fit for Sunday’s first of the three finals.
Man-of-the-match Dinesh Chandimal, who was the highest run-getter for Sri Lanka with a 84-ball 75 on Friday, said he was happy to be able to contribute for his team on a regular basis in the series. (PTI)
