We did it with right intentions, Jayawardene on captain change – Cricket News Update
Sri Lanka’s regular skipper Mahela Jayawardene has admitted that Kumar Sangakkara was given the charge of the side against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 to avoid a match bans for himself and his deputy Angelo Mathews on the count of slow over rate, ahead of the tournament semi-finals.
Eyebrows were raised when veteran http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DPMD-Jayawardene-c1397, walked out for the toss in their final Super Eight match against England, at Pallekele on Monday. Jayawardene was fined for a slow over rate in Sri Lanka’s nine-wicket win over West Indies, on Saturday and one more such offence over the next six months would mean a one-match ban for the Islander, who was reinstated as Lankan skipper for a second term in February this year.
Angelo Mathews, the designated vice-captain of Sri Lanka was earlier fined for slow over rate during a limited overs match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 at home, and he would also face same consequences for a repeat in the next six months.
Later Jayawardene and Sangakkara both explained that the change was made to prevent the former and his deputy from missing out on the World T20 semi-final, where the hosts will be playing the second best from Group 2, at Colombo, on Thursday.
"The intention was not wrong," said Jayawardene after his side’s 19-run victory over England, that knocked the defending champions out of the tournament, and allowed http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 to proceed to the semi-finals, along with West Indies.
“I had a warning for an over-rate issue, and if it happened again I could have missed the next match. It's a tough system and it's tough to bowl 20 overs in one hour and 20 minutes in a tournament like this. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AD-Mathews-c913 was on the same offence, so if he got nailed he would have missed the game as well. We had to find someone who didn't have a rap sheet and Kumar fitted the bill,” explained the Sri Lankan top-order batsman.
“We don't want to miss the big games, so we did it with the right intentions,” insisted Jayawardene.
Sri Lanka finished the Super Eight stage unbeaten, with wins over http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 and England, and will play the second-placed team from the other half.
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