De Mel rues Sri Lanka’s final loss to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 – Cricket News Update
Sri Lanka’s chief selectors, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ashantha-Lakdasa-Francis-de-Mel-c46253, rued his side’s World T20 loss to West Indies, adding that the weight of expectations probably got the better of his players.
The Lankans entered the final of the competition as firm favourites, having already outplayed their opponents in a Super Eight fixture. With home advantage to count on, they were on course to erase the painful memories of the past after restricting the Windies to a mediocre 32 in the first 10 overs.
However, the tourists fought their way back into the contest, courtesy a stupendous knock from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Marlon-Nathaniel-Samuels-c74804, whose 78 ensured that his side posted a respectable 137 on the board.
Still, the hosts looked in prime position at the half way stage, only to buckle under pressure after that. After losing http://www.senore.com/Cricket/TM-Dilshan-c2691 in the first over, the Lankans opted to take a cautious approach which ultimately backfired after rain had threatened to intervene.
Following the loss of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DPMD-Jayawardene-c1397, their most experienced players, the Lankans never managed any momentum, with their misery further compounded after Jeevan Mendis and Thisara Perera fell via run-outs. The lower order offered little as the team was bowled out on a lowly 101.
The defeat meant that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013. De Mel said that his side failed to play their natural game.
"I don't know what went wrong with our batting, for in the earlier matches we used to score at least 50 runs in the first six overs of Powerplay. Here they managed only 30 runs which put the fielding side on top.
"I think we also panicked during our innings when there was a slight drizzle and threw away wickets rather unnecessarily trying to up the score, the two run outs of Thisara Perera and Jeevan Mendis didn't help either. Everything seemed to go against us."
The Lankan’s next assignment will be against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 at home, starting from October 30.
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