SL vs AUS: "By October, We Will Get Better As We Play More And More Matches" - Wanindu Hasaranga

Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga felt that the team’s middle and lower order has a glaring weakness at the moment but they will get better as they get to play more matches in the T20 format.

Sri Lanka lost the second T20I of the 3-match series against Australia on Wednesday, conceding an unassailable 2-0 lead in the process. In both the games, Sri Lanka failed to cross the 130-run mark batting first which signals concern for the hosts.

“There’s a weakness in our lower middle order and lower order. Right now, they are a little bit out of form, and we have to accept that. Our target is the World Cup. If we can add 10% more on the batting side in the next match, and in the series coming up, we’ll be in a much better place. In these two games, our batting had a few small mistakes.”

“In the series to come, we have to bring our batting and bowling up to the same level. On the bowling front, we’re doing pretty well. If we can make a close match out of a match like this when they were just chasing 125, that means our bowling is in good shape. I think by October, we will get better as we play more and more matches,” Hasaranga said after the match.

“If they push me out of the game early on they gain the high ground” – Wanindu Hasaranga

Hasaranga felt that the Aussie players were constantly looking to put him under pressure early on, thereby negating Lanka’s best attacking option in the middle overs.

“When I bowled yesterday, they hit 27 runs off my two overs. When you’re chasing a small total, any team has less pressure on them. The pressure is on us. So they attack. But then a team like this will anyway try to attack me in the first two overs because if they push me out of the game early on they gain the high ground.”

“That’s what I feel. But then I like it when they attack me. Rather than batsmen closing up and defending, I can get wickets when they attack. I can put the team in a better position that way,” he also added.

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