Our discipline in first ten overs was lacking: Sri Lanka head coach Chris Silverwood after loss to India

Guwahati (Assam) [India], January 11 (ANI): Sri Lanka head coach Chris Silverwood rued the lack of ‘discipline’ from his bowlers, saying they allowed India to get off to a good start after visitors suffered a 67-run loss to Men in Blue in the opening ODI of three-match series in Guwahati on Tuesday.

Shubman Gill stitched a partnership of 143 for the opening wicket with Rohit Sharma, giving the middle and lower orders a solid base to launch an assault in the back-end of their innings and propel the total to a massive 373. Heroics by star batter Virat Kohli and ‘Jammu Express’ Umran Malik outpowered a fighting century by skipper Dasun Shanaka, as India defeated Sri Lanka by 67 runs in the first ODI of three-match series at Guwahati on Tuesday.

“Obviously, we didn’t get off to the best start. If I have to be brutally honest, our discipline in the first ten overs was lacking at times, and we allowed India to get off to a good start. This is a high-scoring ground. India knew that they had to get off to a good start and we allowed them to do that,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Silverwood as saying after the match.

“They gained momentum from that and we had to push back all the time to try to put the brakes on. And I think we did that for a period of time. But when you have a class batting line-up as India have, then it’s difficult to stop them,” said the Sri Lanka head coach.

Other than their bowlers Sri Lanka was found lacking in the fielding department, too, as they dropped Virat Kohli twice, first on 52 and then on 81. He went on to score 113 off just 87 balls.

Kohli slammed his 45th ODI century and, overall his 73rd in international cricket, on Tuesday.

“Yeah, obviously they were costly. Moments like that are very critical in a game like this. We knew it was going to be a high-scoring one. And we all know if you give a player of Virat’s calibre opportunities, he would take it. And that’s exactly what he did today. Of course, it was an excellent knock but had we taken those opportunities he presented, you never know,” Silverwood said of the dropped catches.

Chasing the target of 374, Sri Lanka were at 206 for 8 in the 38th over of the game before their skipper Dasun Shanaka raised a 100-run stand with Kasun Rajitha for the ninth-wicket. Shanaka remained unbeaten at 108 but his valiant innings failed to guide his team home and only served to reduce the margin of defeat.

“I think he [Shanaka] has done himself a world of good. He has put himself in the marketplace now. I am sure the [IPL] franchises will be looking at him [Shanaka was unsold at the auction] and seeing how dynamic a cricketer he is. He is a great striker of the ball, so hopefully, he will get an opportunity,” Silverwood said.
“[But] I don’t think we rely [only] on Dasun. He is in a great vein of form at the moment, so obviously he is shining. If you look, we had Pathum also score runs today. I thought the partnership between him and Dhananjaya gave us some momentum when they were together,” said the Sri Lanka head coach.

“We have seen over a period of time that each individual at times has put their hand up and been counted. So I am not overly worried about that. Obviously, we need them to put their hands up more, especially on very good tracks like this, to put that fight up, to build partnerships. So that’s a constant work,” he added.
The second ODI will take place on January 12 in Eden Gardens, Kolkata while the third will be hosted by the Greenfield International Stadium at Thiruvananthapuram on January 15.