A slight technical change and a more sophisticated approach through the middle overs helped Avishka Fernando finish as the highest run-scorer in the series against India. The third ODI player said this, scoring 76 off 98 balls helped Sri Lanka register their second ODI win of the year as they chased down the target of 227 with three wickets and eight overs to spare.
Fernando started off aggressively, as he often does, scoring 32 off 30 balls during the powerplay, but then toned down his batting in the middle overs, instead looking for singles and twos in the outfield. Though he batted in the 37th over, he hit only one boundary after the fielding restrictions were eased.
"I can usually score runs in the powerplay so I batted my normal way in those overs, but I needed to figure out how I bat from that point on," Fernando said after the match. "As someone batting at the top, I needed to be able to play those long innings and that's what I wanted to do in this series. I was able to do what the team needed."
Fernando was part of a crucial second wicket stand of 109 with Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who was for the most part aggressive, hitting 12 fours in 65 off 56 balls. With Rajapaksa on the attack, and Sri Lanka scored well. At the required rate, Fernando went into accumulation mode.
"Bhanuka Aiyya plays her game in her own way. At that time we didn't even need me to score quickly. So I thought I would give him the strike, because almost every over he would hit a boundary or a six. I do like that. Was able to do it and he was batting well because we were able to spin the strike on a good partnership.
It was Fernando's second half-century of the series, having scored 50 runs in the second ODI as well. His 159 runs in the series (at an average of 53) were 31 runs more than the next batsman Shikhar Dhawan.
"I have changed a few small things between England and this series," Fernando said. "I had a problem with my front leg going offside. So I corrected it in training, and then because of that I was able to get back into the runs."