Sri Lanka had an ODI win after successive defeats but let it slip away. It must have been disastrous for a team with less confidence. Batsman Charith Aslanka, who scored 65 runs for Sri Lanka, told what it is like to watch the opposition team's eighth wicket partnership.
"We are all passionate - the team and the coach are all passionate," he said. "We are a young team. We haven't won much recently, and we are trying our best to play together for our country. Everyone worked hard and took it to the last over, but unfortunately We couldn't win."
It was Sri Lanka's ninth loss in 10 completed matches in 2021, but a victory for Sri Lanka in the 40th over looked certain. India still needed 67 off 60 balls at the time, with two batsmen who haven't had much time at the crease until recently. Sri Lanka too had saved two overs for the final 10 overs from Wanindu Hasaranga and three from Dushmantha Chamira - two of their best bowlers. And yet Deepak could not break the stand between Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who took India to the target.
Aslanka said, 'We talked about taking the game further in the 40th over. "We wanted to increase their required rate. But they were successful because they didn't lose any wickets. They had a plan to play Vanindu defensively and everyone else to score runs, and it worked. If they try to get out of Vanindu, they will probably lose. I think other bowlers will have to talk and figure out how to get wickets in that situation."
Sri Lanka were also lax with their fielding, conceding at least five fours that the outfielders could have blocked. Aslanka noted this as an area to work on.
"We made some mistakes on the field, and we conceded more than 10 runs in the field. We need to fix that. No. 8 and 9 also scored runs, so we also have to figure out how to stop that."