Mahela Jayawardene happy with ton against Canada
After guiding his team to a resounding win in its opening ICC World Cup 2011 match, the former captain of the Sri Lankan team, Mahela Jayawardene, has stated that the tournament has got off to a good start for the co-hosts. He also
added that a lot of work was needed if the thoughts of a win were to be entertained.
He admitted that the team was a touch nervous playing in front of a packed crowd at the brand new Hambantota venue. However the easy nature of the encounter against minnows http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Canada-c748, helped the team settle down and focus on the challenges
ahead.
The Sri Lankans are aiming to repeat their performance from 1996, when they surprised the world by annexing the title after a splendid effort. "We had a few nerves before the game started, just to get on with the World Cup in front
of our own crowd," Jayawardene said. "It's not easy to play a team like Canada. You've got to make sure that you come in prepared. It's a good start but we've got a lot of hard work ahead of us with other teams."
The Sri Lankans did not have everything go their way in the encounter against the Canadians. The opening batsmen;s wickets fell early in the innings and the scoring rate had dipped to less than 5 runs per over at one point. The loss
of Tilkaratne Dilshan caused the dip in the run rate but was later recovered by the attacking play of Jayawardene and Captain, Kumar Sangakkara. Both ended up scoring more than a run a ball, on their way to a 179 run stand.
Jayawardene thinks that the minnows were impressive with the ball, adding that their disciplined performance at the top of the innings choked the batsmen who are renowned for their free style of play.
"To be fair on the Canadian side they bowled really well. They bowled in good areas to start off with, and [Tillakaratne] Dilshan couldn't get away and neither did Upul [Tharanga], but it was important for us to keep wickets in hand.
We had a good partnership between Kumar [Sangakkara] and me. We needed to change that rhythm a bit in the middle overs and we managed to do that and took control of the game."
Meanwhile the 100 at Hambantota was the 13th of an illustrious career for the classy Jayawardene. His innings were studded with his typical silky drives and wristy stroke play that left the Canadians bemused. The right hander
did endure some troubles at the start of the innings and was lucky to have survived two close caught behind appeals which were turned down by the third umpire after referral. Both times it appeared that he had edged the ball, yet there was no concrete evidence
in the absence of hot spot technology, which is an integral part of the Umpire Decision Review System. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has implemented the technology at the event yet was not able to convince the broadcasters to include it in the current
game play. Broadcasters point to the heavy cost of the technology at a reason for not including it on the pitches.
Jayawardene was sympathetic with the minnows taking part in the tournament, despite their poor start. The second day saw http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kenya-c752 rolled over for a measly 69 on their way to a 10 wickets drubbing at the hands of the Black Caps, followed by the 210 runs win
for the Lankans. Jayawardene thinks that the lesser teams ought to be given a run in the event and more importantly get decent exposure by playing the leading teams more often than every four years at the time of the World Cup. It is still to be seen whether
his advice will be heard in the ICC.
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