Sri Lankan coach rates Tillakaratne Dilshan’s knock as special – Cricket News Update
Sri Lankan Head Coach, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Graham-Xavier-Ford-c60657, has rated Tillakaratne Dilshan’s impressive century knock against Pakistan as special which consequently set up a convincing win for the his side in the second ODI at Pallekele.
Criticised for becoming a walking wicket in the opening exchanges of the series, the opener returned to form emphatically with a praiseworthy display of 119. Known for his aggression, the veteran batsman however, played with a sense of responsibility and
anchored his side to post a daunting 280 on the board.
With scores of 5, 18, and 5 from the first three matches (T20 and ODI), pressure was on the 35-year-old to deliver and he went about his business with the purpose of playing out the full quota of overs. After a turbulent time in the latter half of 2011,
Dilshan was the highest-run getter in the CB series Down Under before another patchy phase threatened to extend following some poor outings in the Asia Cup 2012 and the Indian Premier League.
The start to the home series saw him throwing away his wickets – a glimpse of which came in the first ODI where he, meaninglessly, attempted a heave to the mid-wicket region off http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Umar-Gul-c94604, which resulted in a simple catch for the mid-on fielder. However,
he display in the second ODI was focused – dispatching the lose deliveries while rotating the strike.
His anchoring innings further helped the likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DPMD-Jayawardene-c1397 and Thisara Perera to play their natural game, which ultimately resulted in the team getting back to winning ways.
Ford was impressed with Dilshan’s measured approach and termed his knock as special. “What he [Dilshan] did was to work hard through the new ball [phase], and then he was able to capitalise in the later stages of the game,” Ford said.
"He worked extremely hard on that knock and that laid the foundation for us to get the total we eventually got. He had to work hard as the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 attack one of the best in world cricket. This one is going to be rated as a special knock in his career."
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