Former captain Mahela Jayawardene yesterday said his match winning century against Afghanistan under trying circumstances was as good as his hundred in the World Cup final against India in Bombay four years ago.
Sri Lanka were facing humiliation chasing 233 to record their first win in the World Cup and Jayawardene’s superb knock redeemed the side from certain defeat.
“I told myself not to get rattled and to keep going. I enjoyed the 100 as much as the World Cup final hundred four years ago. It was a tough situation and mentally had to be very strong. Very pleased with the knock. (There were) muted celebrations when I got the century because I wanted to finish the game off.”
Sri Lanka were 18 for three at one stage and slipped further to 51 for four. Jayawardene added 126 runs with captain Angelo Mathews to rescue the side. “With the new ball they bowled good areas. They moved the ball. They are a good bowling unit. We had to make sure to bat those 15 to 20 overs and after that it was easy to bat. For us to play a tough game like that was a good thing.”
“The only thing I told was to commit myself to each shot. The only way I could have got out was by being negative and not playing my natural game. So I was waiting for the loose balls and showed a lot of commitment and had to make sure that commitment was there. That was the only way we could create some pressure. Angelo batted really well.”
He regretted his dismissal soon after reaching three figures. “Obviously I was upset. I wanted to finish the game. I wanted to stay till the end. Tried to be bit cheeky getting it finer, but didn’t execute the shot properly. I am not going to stop that shot. It has given me so many runs. That’s how the game goes and you need to take the good and the bad.”
Sri Lanka now have a hectic schedule where they will travel to Australia to play Bangladesh before returning to New Zealand to play England. “We had a week before this game. Now we are going back-to-back which is good to get the rhythm going. We can increase our intensity a bit more. This is an early stage in the World Cup. Yes it was a hiccup in this game, but two points on the board is important. We need to take every game seriously.”
He also commended the efforts of Thisara Perera. “Thisara is a massive asset. As for his batting, we need to give him the confidence to show what he is capable of. He is important with the ball as well. If we can get both going in the World Cup, that’s going to be great. Good to see him enjoying batting today. We can get more out of him.”
Jayawardene said that moves to reduce the next World Cup in England to ten teams wasn’t the right thing. “I think Sri Lanka got that opportunity in 1975 as an associate. We got Test status in 1981. Had we not got those opportunities we wouldn’t have been there. We need to nurture them and give them opportunities.”
