The first aim was to win: Chandimal

The atmosphere in the Sri Lanka dressing room that must have soured after two early defeats will surely change after the five-wicket win over Zimbabwe which has kept them alive in the tournament, and according to skipper Dinesh Chandimal his side had something up their sleeve to get the desired result at the end.

Although Sri Lanka had the opportunity to win the game with a bonus point if they managed to chase the target of 199 inside 40 overs, the variable nature of the pitch forced them to go for the win and sacrifice the bonus point.

“Before we went into bat, we had a plan to get the bonus point before the 40th over. After the 25th over, we changed our minds since it was a tough wicket to bat on. The first aim was to win the game,” Chandimal told reporters after the game at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.

Chandimal credited the all-round effort from Thisara Perera, first taking four wickets and then remaining unbeaten on 39 to guide his side over the line alongside his skipper after some early hiccups.

“He is a good, experienced player. He has played tournaments everywhere and is performing as a batsman and bowler. It is crucial; we missed the most senior player [regular skipper Angelo Mathews] after the first game, so Thisara stood as up as a performer. I am really happy for him,” he said.

According to the 28-year-old, batting is still the biggest concern for his side and he said that they need to score big and come up with better plans from the next game.

Zimbabwe skipper Graeme Cremer informed that they were 30-40 runs short with the bat yesterday and said that 230 would have been a par score on the pitch, which was on the slower side and the Lankan bowlers used their short-ball strategy to great effect.

“With the wicket being a little two-paced, I think they saw that quite early. They used it to their advantage. I think in the evening, there was a little bit of dew. It came on to the bat better, not like in the afternoon when it got stuck. We will keep that in mind when we bowl first in the next game,” Cremer told reporters.

With hosts Bangladesh already having confirmed their place in the final, Cremer informed that it will be an interesting battle between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka as one of the two sides have to beat Bangladesh to reach the final.