http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DPMD-Jayawardene-c1397 defends the decision of sending in a pinch-hitter – Cricket News Update
Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lankan skipper, has backed his team’s decision to send in a pinch-hitter up the order against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in the second T20 at Hambantota and believes that it was a gamble which did not pay off.
Pakistan and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 drew the two-match series 1-1 as the home team won the first encounter and the Green Shirts came back strongly in the second fixture at the same venue to share the honours.
The Islanders required 123 runs to win in the second match and sent http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KMDN-Kulasekara-c1802 at number three to increase the run-rate. The move however, backfired and the all-rounder was dismissed without opening his account.
The Sri Lankan tactics were slammed by the media as some of the former cricketers believe that the home team should have gone about their business smoothly and there was no need to promote a bowler in the batting order, especially when the team was not chasing
a big total.
The regular captain, who opted to sit out in the match, expressed that Sri Lanka needed a little cameo from someone and there was no better choice than Kulasekara.
"We do bat deep. We felt that when we are chasing even small totals, if we can get 20 or 15 runs upfront it would be good, especially if the ball is moving a bit. I know it's a tough ask for a bowler to do it but you would rather sacrifice the wicket of
a bowler than one of your batsmen,” said Jayawardene.
The top-order batsman is happy that his team had to bat second against one of the world’s best bowling line-ups and feels that the defeat against Pakistan in the second match is a ‘blessing in disguise’ as it will help the home team to prepare for the upcoming
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World T20 2012, which will be held later this year in the Island.
He added, "It was a good toss to lose in the sense that we had a chance to bat second and we saw how difficult batting second was. That will make us prepare accordingly [for the World T20].”
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