Mathews credits bowlers after series win

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Cricket365
August 30, 2014

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews was delighted with his side's ODI series win against Pakistan, winning the deciding third match in Dambulla by seven wickets, and gave the credit to his pace bowlers.

Thisara Perera took four wickets, while Dhammika Prasad bagged the openers and Lasith Malinga removed Mohammad Hafeez. As such, Pakistan were all out for 102, and the chase was a no-brainer for the hosts.

Mathews said after the game: "To come after that defeat in Hambantota, we had to put up our socks. The bowler set the tone, Dhammika and Malinga early and then Thisara.

"I wanted to experiment a little, give Thisara more opportunities and Dhammika has also proven he is a very good bowler in the past few series.

"The pitch was doing a little bit in the early hours and then it flattened out a little bit but when you're chasing 100 you should play positive cricket and not block.

"It was tough against Pakistan, they're a good, balanced team so all the very best for their future tournaments."

Perera's four wickets gave him the Man of the Match, and it added to his previous efforts, where he took two wickets in the first ODI and three in the second. He also scored a half century in the second game.

Thisara said: "First of all, I'm proud of my all round performances. It's a good wicket to bowl, as a bowling unit we've done really well.

"It's just about confidence, the last match I bowled well and came back strongly. I'm going to work on my bowling and keep getting better. I'll try my best, and if I have more chances to play more than 10 overs I'll do my best."

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq, one of only three batsmen to reach double figures, was disappointed with such a poor batting effort, and while he mentioned the tricky pitch, he put the blame at the feet of the top order.

Misbah said: "The wicket is a bit different in Dambulla. Spongy bounce you need to get used to, but if you scored 240 or 250, that would have been useful.

"But we lost too many wickets early. Fawad and I were trying to be there till the 30th over. We tried to put up a fight, but again we lost too many wickets.

"The crowd is very good, we always enjoy it here. The result hasn't been great, but the experience in Sri Lanka was."

Pakistan's next challenge is against Australia in the UAE in October, and Misbah said they had learned a lot about their side on the Sri Lanka tour, and would continue their World Cup preparations.

He added: "We have a little bit of a picture of what we want to do in the coming series. We will play the world cup in Australia, and the management will think about that.

"The Australia series is really important, we have to get the right combination."