- By Vishal Pushkar
- Fri, 27 Oct 2023 08:29 AM (IST)
- Source:PTI
Spinner Maheesh Theekshana reckons that the defending champions England might have underestimated Sri Lanka as England suffered a resounding eight-wicket defeat, a setback that have almost jeopardize their chances of reaching the World Cup semifinals.
In a display of stellar bowling, the Sri Lankan bowlers demonstrated pinpoint accuracy on a challenging, spongy-bounced wicket. Their collective effort culminated in dismissing England for a mere 156 runs, a total that would prove far from adequate.
"I think they underestimated our team because we also lost three games and we only won against the Netherlands.
"That's why the result went our way because we backed our strength. We went in with a simple plan, so that's why we won the game today," said Theekshana in the post-match press meet here.
Sri Lankan bowlers went for some course correction after being put away for 400 runs in their previous match against red-hot South Africa.
Theekshana said the Lankans executed their plans much better in this match.
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"In the first four games, we didn't bowl well in the middle overs. I think we lost three games because of our bowling. So, we did some practice sessions to get more discipline, all the fast bowlers did their hard work before the game so they know what they have to do in the game (today)," he said.
Theekshana admitted that the surface at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, often batsmen's ally, changed its character a bit during this match as the bowlers too got some purchase.
"I have played an IPL match (here) and the pitch was different. (Today) there was a bit of turn, pace and bounce. In that IPL match, the pitch was flat and scoring runs was relatively easy.
"I'm not implying that it was tough to accumulate runs in this match, as we managed to score 150 runs with just two wickets down," he said.
The mystery spinner lauded pacers Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Kumara for getting some important England wickets.
"In the initial four or five overs, we conceded a few runs due to our inability to find the right length. However, when Angelo took the ball, he used his experience to adjust the length. This allowed us to regain our discipline in bowling.
"Lahiru then maintained it. We took constant wickets as England went into a defensive mode. So, we had a chance to take wickets, that's what we'd planned here," said Theekshana.
Inputs from PTI
