Former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardena believes that the team’s win over England at the 2019 ICC World Cup on Friday will work as the much-needed confidence boaster as they go into the final round of fixtures of the group stages.
Writing in his ICC column, Jayawardena said that it seemed like the team was playing with fear in the beginning, but the England win should give them enough confidence to raise their game. "I hope this game will give Sri Lanka a lot of confidence in this World Cup. They have beaten one of the best teams in the world, and they need to believe in themselves," Jayawardena wrote.
"At times it feels like they have played with a little bit of fear and have not been able to really express themselves. This win should change that."
Veteran pacer Lasith Malinga was in top form against the hosts at Leeds, and Jayawardena had special words reserved for him. "It's not about the six pack, it's about the skill and Lasith Malinga showed that in spades in Sri Lanka's win over England.
"He has done it so many times for Sri Lanka over the years, but it was great to see him at his best," Jayawardena said.
"He was on a mission with the new ball, taking two crucial early wickets which Sri Lanka needed to defend a total like 232. Then when Joe Root looked like he was playing one of those innings where he just takes the game away from you, Dimuth Karunaratne turned to Mali and threw him the ball. He told him that he needed him, and Mali delivered.
"Big players perform in big games and that is what he did, removing Root and then Jos Buttler who could have won the game for England as well."
Jayawardena also liked the way the often-criticised Lankan skipper Dimuth Karunaratne approached the chase. "I was really impressed with Dimuth's captaincy, trusting his players, bringing on the off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva at an important time and getting rewarded for that.
"Even after they had batted, I felt that it was a competitive total because the wicket was fairly slow."
The former opener also believed that the win should throw the race to the semi-finals open, with the Lankans having a healthy chance of making it. "It's a great win for Sri Lanka, but also for the World Cup and it opens things up a little. The top four so far have a lot of matches against each other coming up, so they will inevitably drop some points. You look at New Zealand, Australia and England who all have to play each other which does make it interesting.
"That leaves Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the West Indies with a chance to close the gap if they can pick up a few more wins,” he explained.
Feature image courtesy: Twitter / Cricket World Cup
