India Vs Sri Lanka: Thisara Perera rues Lions failed to capitalize upon opportunities

Sri Lankan captain Thisara Perera was dejected to witness the loss by eight wickets against formidable India on Sunday (December 17) in Visakhapatnam while reflecting the side couldn’t cope up, as Men in Blue put up a thorough performance to thrash the Islanders convincingly.

“Really disappointing for us,” Perera said during the post-match presentation at Vizag while speaking to presenter and former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar.

In the all-important contest, Sri Lanka was going strong with the bat, but the late flurry of wickets saw hosts setting up the firm grip before sealing the three-match One-day International series 2-1.

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Perera pointed out the loopholes while ruing the middle order didn’t come good to put enough runs on the board.

“We got the good start today, but the middle order didn’ capitalize and so we couldn’t put enough runs on the board,” Perera explained.

Earlier, Sri Lanka batted first which further saw them being bundled out on 215 in 44.5 overs.

The opening batsman and senior campaigner Upul Tharanga (95 off 82) was the only bright prospect with the bat alongside Sadeera Samarawickrama (42 off 57).

Spin duo in the form of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal shared six wickets after both conceded 88 runs in 20 overs.

However, India chased down the target comfortably in 32.1 overs, which further saw the left-handed opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan (100* off 85) smashing a fine hundred.

While talking about all-rounder Akila Dananjaya, Perera stated he has been doing well and could turn out to be best in business in the future for Sri Lanka when asked why prompted you to opt for a spinner with the new-ball.

“He (Akila Dananjaya) is a very good talent and he has a great future. That’s why I gave him the new ball. We have to stay at present and think about the future,” Perera asserted.

Interestingly, the fluent stroke-maker Dhawan made his international debut at the same venue and was further named Man of the Match in the series decider.

On the other side, Dinesh Karthik remained unbeaten on 26 off 31 deliveries as his score included three boundaries.

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Lankan captain Perera used as many as eight bowlers who saw Dananjaya claiming the wicket of the stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma and Perera managed to pick the wicket of Shreyas Iyer (65 off 63).

Reminiscing about the Dharamsala game where Sri Lanka thrashed hosts by seven wickets, Perera admitted the fact by saying they failed to execute the plans thereon and paid the price in Mohali and now in Visakhapatnam.

“We played well in the first game, and it is a good chance to beat India in India, but our bowlers didn’t execute the plans well in the last couple of games,” Perera concluded.

At one stage, the Lions were going strong at 136 for one before the visitors lost the plot against promising spin attack.

Concluding, it was the first-ever series win for Rohit as a skipper for Team India.