Jayawardena fears Indian backlash

Chris Dhambarage reporting from Dambulla

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena believes India could bounce back but is determined to keep the pressure on when the second one day international between the two teams starts at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium today.

The Lankans have already taken an early lead in the five match series following their comprehensive eight wicket win on Monday. Skipper Jayawardena noted that it is always good to win the first game in a five match series but is expecting an improvement from his side in all areas during the remaining four fixtures.

“They will definitely come back strongly. They have got a very good side and they will probably play for pride as well. They have a lot of talented individual players who could change a match for them. We need to make sure that we play the same brand of cricket on Wednesday”.

The Sri Lankan captain however was somewhat surprised in the manner the Indians surrendered after being bowled out for a modest 146 from 46 overs. “This was just a start and we need to concentrate very well. There are areas which we can improve and need to work hard as a group.

When we started the game we did not expect to win like this. But we bowled very well and kept a lot of pressure on the Indian batsmen”.

Skipper Jayawardena said that he would have still batted first had he won the toss knowing that the first 45 minutes would have been always tough. “It was not an easy wicket to bat.

Even when we batted it was not an easy wicket. But we managed to get through the new ball which was the important thing”.

Sri Lanka will be hoping for a repeat performance from their three seamers Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Kulasekera and Thilina Thushara. In fact the former is at the threshold of another unique milestone where he needs just a solitary wicket to join the 400 wicket club in one day internationals.

Jayawardena showered praises on his three prong pace attack which actually destroyed the Indian top order batting line up during the first one day international.

Sri Lanka would most probably field the same side but India are certain to make a couple of changes for today’s vital clash.

The biggest concern for India is the absence of opener Virender Sehwag who pulled out from the final eleven at the last moment following an ankle injury. Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels that the injury to Sehwag and the early dismissal of Gautham Gabhir completely shattered their hopes of making a match of it.

But more importantly Dhoni is very much concerned about his teams inability to read the spin of Ajantha Mendis who continue to mesmerized the Indian top order following his success in the test series. The Indian captain noted that they will soon need to find a way of playing Mendis before Sri Lanka could run away with the series.

The teams: Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardena (captain), Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Chamara Kapugedera, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Chamara Silva, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Kulasekera, Ajantha Mendis, Muttiah Muralitharan and Thilina Thushara.

India (from): Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautham Gambhir, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Virat Kohil, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan,

Dambulla, Tuesday