Wanindu Hasaranga, a leg spinner for Sri Lanka, has praised his team’s defensive efforts in the first ODI, saying that their spirited fielding performance helped them defeat Bangladesh by 77 runs.
Before the collapse started, Bangladesh was comfortably at 100/1. Milan Rathnayake superbly ran out Najmul Hossain, who made 23, with a flat toss from the deep square. After Litton Das was out for a duck, it was up to half-centurion Tanzid Hasan to take the game to the next level. However, that also ended when Janith Liyanage made a fantastic catch at mid-off, and the game collapsed spectacularly.
Milan Rathnayake was exceptional. Janith Liyanage was, too. This game serves as more evidence of our ability to alter games with our fielding, Hasaranga stated. “At one point, they were cruising. The game was altered by Milan’s run out. Naturally, Janith Liyanage then performed a stunning move, which tipped the scales in our favour.
After scoring over 250 runs, Hasaranga continued, they were confident they could protect their score.
“The RPS wicket is as usual. We felt we could defend that with our bowling when we played Australia and India if we scored between 240 and 250 batting first. “It’s the standard RPS pitch,” Hasaranga stated.
“I believe they believed that a seam-heavy approach was the best course of action. However, you must immediately adapt to the situation. The Bangladeshi batsmen faced our quicks, presumably aware that it would be difficult to get runs once the spinners came on. As is his custom, Asitha bowled well. He added that they chose to bring him in as late as the 18th over for tactical reasons, saying, “I think it was good to see the way the bowlers adjusted.”
“After talking with Charith, Kusal, and myself, we agreed that I should hold back. The idea was for me to arrive as late as possible and attack the right-handers because they have too many left-handers in the top order,” he stated.
Under Charith Asalanka’s supervision, Hasaranga believes the batting unit is headed in the right direction, and he commended them for their ODI turnaround. “Charith conducts his business as an experienced player. “He effectively manages middle situations and encourages the other batters to form partnerships,” Hasaranga remarked.
He is skilled at bringing out the best in his batting mates. He has played a significant role in our achievement and has been one of our mainstays over the past 18 months or so. All of the batters have begun to contribute to the club. A couple of years ago, we didn’t have it. We are winning often these days because the bowlers have an easier time of it and the batters are performing their jobs.”
As he reached his 100th ODI wicket on the ninth anniversary of his international debut, Hasaranga expressed his happiness at being able to support the team in spite of multiple injury setbacks. “Because of my injuries and the surgery I had to have, I missed a lot of cricket. The worst thing was missing a World Cup because of an injury, but I’m glad I helped Sri Lanka win because I’m proud of it,” Hasaranga said.
“I knew I just needed one wicket to reach 100, but I was unaware of the 1000-run milestone. I’m happy to have completed eight years as an international cricket player, and I intend to keep doing so.”
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