Thisara Perera believes Sri Lanka is well-prepared for ODI series decider

Sri Lankan skipper Thisara Perera on Saturday remarked the visitors are ready for the challenge in Visakhapatnam while adding they have trained hard and are aiming high to make it count against a world-ranked number two One-day International side which is led by the stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma.

“From our side, we take it as just another game. Mentally we are all well prepared. We will not repeat the mistakes in Mohali,” Perera told journalists on the eve of Vizag ODI.

After winning the first match by seven wickets, the Lions struggled in Mohali with the ball which further saw opening batsman Rohit registering third 50-over hundred.

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The bowling all-rounder Perera reiterated they have been focusing on their game and have further worked on to plug in the loopholes.

“We have spoken about it and I am pretty certain that they will deliver in tomorrow’s game,” Perera believes.

Perera added that they are looking forward to relying on their strength after flying to the northern part of India.

“First match we won, then they bounced back and we want to put the mistakes behind us and put up a good show here,” Perera maintained.

While shedding light on Mohali ODI, Perera remarked it’s part and parcel of the game, and he feels the bowlers have failed to stick to the plans while pointing out fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep and pace spearhead Suranga Lakmal, who had produced spectacular spells during the ongoing limited-overs series.

“These things happen in cricket. Nuwan and Suranga bowled really well in the first game, but failed to execute those plans in the second game,” Perera concluded.

According to Perera and his colleagues, the conditions at Vizag in Visakhapatnam are pretty similar to Galle and Colombo, and they would want to give their best shot – to spring a surprise in the three-match One-day International series decider after the 50-over competition was levelled at one each with hosts winning the second fixture by 141 runs in Mohali.

“Definitely in Vizag the conditions are similar to that what we find in Sri Lanka. Here, I hope we will be able to do something special as conditions are pretty similar to what we find back at home,” Perera revealed.

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Earlier, Lankan players have spent around six weeks in northern part of India, which further saw Sri Lankan players were stranded in Dharamsala for an extra day due to the inclement weather before flying to the southern part of India where the weather is warm.

“Mohali and Dharamsala were completely different. It was a totally different story over there,” Perera observed.

Apart from the Mohali game Sri Lanka had a good outing both with the bat and the ball, as formidable India went on to make the mockery of visiting bowling line-up.

“India are the best team in the world and I am sure they will be under some sort of pressure,” Perera explained.

While settling with the plans, Perera believes Rohit’s wicket would play a crucial part, and he stated they would try hard to execute the plans by not allowing the hosts’ batsmen – to settle down while adding it would be threatening if they would fail in their plan.