Cricket Archive

Hard work paying off, says Jayawardene by CricketArchive staff reporter

Player:	DPMD Jayawardene
Event:	Sri Lanka in England 2006

After a successful opening encounter in the five match ODI series against England, the Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said his team were growing in confidence all the time as they looked to build on their 1-0 lead. Man-of-the-match Upul Tharanga’s century at Lord's on Saturday helped Sri Lanka get off to an impressive start with a 20-run victory.

Although Jayawardene said he was disappointed that Sri Lanka, after a rapid start, made 257 for nine from their 50 overs it was more than enough as England, shoddy in the field, collapsed to 66 for four. What made the defeat all the worse was that England had gifted Sri Lanka a mammoth 42 runs in extras, the most they’d conceded in a one-day international, surpassing the 41 Sri Lanka received in Delhi back in 1989/90.

This latest win followed on from their two-run victory in Thursday's Twenty20 clash at the Rose Bowl.

“It’s been a long tour for us and I’m glad the hard work the guys are putting in is paying off,” Jayawardene said. "The way Tharanga batted, he showed a lot of character and maturity," Jayawardene added of the 21-year-old man-of-the-match and left-handed opener, whose hundred was his third at this level and first against England. “He held the innings together and with the start we had I was disappointed we didn't get to 300. But the difference was the extras. Our guys were a lot more disciplined than England."