Mahela defends bowlers

Chris Dhambarage from Pakistan

Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardena defended his bowlers after his team crashed to a demoralizing six-wicket defeat to India in their six nation Asia Cup limited overs tournament Super Four match played at the National Stadium in Karachi on Thursday.

Jayawardena noted that it has been a nightmare for all the bowlers in this tournament as India successfully chased their target of 308 runs to win with six wickets and four overs to spare.

The Sri Lankan captain said that the players will now need to refocus themselves on the game and comeback fresh into the final which will be worked off on Sunday at this same venue. Jayawardena said that their total of 308 for 8 was a good one and could have defended but still he felt they were 20 to 30 runs short at the end. He noted that his dismissal in the 27th over of the innings was a crucial one.

Jayawardena said that had Chamara Kapugedera or Chamara Silva scored a big hundred then the situation would have been somewhat different and India would have been chasing a much bigger total. But unfortunately they lost wickets whenever they were making an attempt to accelerate the scoring rate.

The Sri Lankan captain believed that batting first was always an added advantage because by putting runs on the board they will be able to put a lot of pressure on the opposition. However he was disappointed that his bowlers could not pick up early wickets and the Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Gautham Gambhir simply ran away with the game.

Karachi, Thursday