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Jayawardene disappointed

Special Correspondent

Sydney: Sri Lankan captain, Mahela Jayawardene, expressed his disappointment at his team’s batting here on Friday. “We had quite a few things to discuss in the team-meeting, especially the way we batted today. It’s something that has kept happening to us the last six months,” he said.

Jayawardene said the team needed to get its act together, forget the game and move forward.

“We’re a very competitive side and when you make mistakes like this it does feel bad. We are a talented side that can beat Australia but need to have the belief,” he said.

He blamed the shot selection of the Lankan batsmen including him for the debacle. “We realised with the way the wicket was playing once the ball got softer it was going to be hard work for us.” The injury to Muttiah Muralitharan, Jayawardene said, was not serious.

Complete performance

Australian captain Rickey Ponting said his team’s performance was complete on a two-paced wicket. He complimented his bowlers: “I realised Nathan (Bracken) would do a good job in the middle of the innings and that is why he only bowled his three up the top. Michael Clarke controlled our batting well and Gilly played slightly differently than what he normally does but he played according to the conditions.”

He also highlighted spinner Brad Hogg’s display and said, “we’ve got a really good mix and balance with our bowling.”

Man of the Match Bracken said he was confident of bowling at a reduced pace on these types of pitches and added that he was working on his variety.

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