Dinesh Chandimal goes berserk after Sri Lanka's loss to England!! Claims his team is over the moon

Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Chandimal has expressed his delight with his team's performance during the first Test match against England.

Dinesh Chandimal said that his teammates showed resilience after suffering a collapse in unfamiliar conditions on the opening day of the match.

Sri Lanka produced a strong comeback in the opening Test against England at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Kamindu Mendis scored 113 off 183 balls, including one six and 15 fours. Dinesh Chandimal scored 79 runs off 119 balls as Sri Lanka set a target of 205 runs for England in the final innings.

The hosts chased down the target with five wickets in hand on the fourth day of the match. Joe Root played a gritty knock of an unbeaten 62 runs off 128 deliveries.

The visitors restricted England to 70-3 while defending the target. However, they failed to pick up more wickets to put pressure on England.

We Are Over The Moon As A Team - Dinesh Chandimal

Dinesh Chandimal said he was 'over the moon' with Sri Lanka’s performance despite losing the first Test. Chandimal praised Milan Rathnayake and captain Dhananjaya de Silva for scoring crucial runs in Sri Lanka’s first innings.

'We are over the moon as a team, not for the result but the way we played in this game is unbelievable. In the first half an hour on the first day, we lost three wickets. Milan [Rathnayake] and Dhananjaya batted brilliantly and took us through the game," Chandimal said.

Sri Lanka skipper Dhananjaya de Silva opted to bat first after winning the toss. However, the decision did not go in their favor, as they collapsed to 113/7.

Dhananjaya de Silva (74 runs off 84 balls) and Milan Rathnayake (72 runs off 135 balls) helped the team reach 236 runs in the first innings.

We Can Win A Game Here - Dinesh Chandimal

Chandimal said that his team can secure a series victory against England. He praised bowlers Asitha and Prabath for their impressive performances. Chandimal is hopeful that the team can win at least one game before returning to Sri Lanka.

"When we come to the bowling, Asitha and Prabath have done a tremendous job throughout the innings. So we have a lot of positive stuff so I'm sure we can give a good fight again at Lord's and I'm sure we can win a game here before we go back to Sri Lanka," Chandimal added.

We Really Fought Back As A Team - Dinesh Chandimal

The 34-year-old cricketer said that they fell short by 40-50 runs in their second innings. Chandimal pointed out the lack of contributions from the tailenders. He highlighted that they have to learn from such situations to improve future performances.

"We really fought back as a team. We were short of 40-50 runs but every time we are telling this after losing the game, we have to learn that and especially our tailenders didn't contribute that well. If they could hang in there for 10-15 overs, we could have got those runs so unfortunately it didn't click," Chandimal further stated.

Dinesh Chandimal had to retire after being hit by Mark Wood's short-pitched delivery. However, he returned to bat when they were struggling at 190/6. He added a 117-run partnership with Kamindu Mendis for the seventh wicket. However, they lost four wickets for 19 runs in their second innings.

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