The Hindu : Sport : We might have got 196 as well: Jayawardene

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We might have got 196 as well: Jayawardene

Special Correspondent

Canberra: A carnival atmosphere prevailed at the Manuka Oval here on Tuesday. Rival supporters rooted for their teams but were friendly throughout.

Fittingly, Mahela Jayawardene and M.S. Dhoni addressed the post-match press conference jointly. Jayawardene said his team had fought well and added, “We might have got 196 as well.”

Jayawardene said the Lankan team-management had been toying with the idea of opening with Tillakaratne Dilshan. “He’s got a lot of shots,” said Jayawardene. Dilshan has opened in the Lankan domestic circuit.

On Muttiah Muralitharan’s bowling, Dilshan said, “He was a bit tentative in the beginning today but he is a fighter and a champion bowler will come back in the series.”

He acknowledged the impact of Jayasuriya’s blazing innings at the start. “It helps when you get momentum at the start,” said Jayawardene.

The Sri Lankan captain said the decision to play the extra bowler paid off. He complimented the pacemen for bowling well. He called India’s Rohit Sharma an “exciting prospect.”

‘Rain hurt India’

Dhoni said the downpour during the innings break that set Sri Lanka a revised target of 154 from 21 overs hurt India. “It would have been much tougher for them to get 196 in 29,” he said.

He had words of praise for the Lankan bastsmen. “Rather than we bowling badly, they played some good shots. There was nothing wrong with those deliveries,” he said. “Dilshan batted very well,” he added.

The Indian captain conceded that there was room for improvement in fielding. He also said there were patches of inconsistent bounce on the outfield.

Dhoni said the format of the tournament meant that the teams could recover from a bad day.

“There are a lot of matches and you can always come back,” he said. Both captains agreed that the tournament was “open.”

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