PAK vs SL 2017, 4th ODI: We Have to Take Responsibility as a Batting Unit – Lahiru Thirimanne

Oct 21, 2017 at 11:16 AM

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PAK vs SL 2017, 4th ODI: We Have to Take Responsibility as a Batting Unit – Lahiru Thirimanne

With every passing game, Sri Lanka is discovering a new low, and the fourth One-Day International against Pakistan on Friday (October 20) was not an exception either.

The Islanders’ dwindling fortunes in the 50-over format have been on the downhill since their 4-1 defeat at home to Australia last year, and the latest result only extended the poor form.

Sri Lanka has already suffered two whitewashes in five-match series against South Africa and India in addition to suffering a shocking series defeat at the hands of Zimbabwe and are now in danger of getting whitewashed again after being thrashed in the fourth ODI by Pakistan.

Batting first, Upul Tharanga & Co. came out a cropper once again and were all out for a paltry 173 inside 43 overs. The score was never going to pose a tough challenge for the reigning Champions Trophy holders, as they chased down the total comfortably in 39 overs to register their eighth consecutive win.

Speaking after the game, Lahiru Thirimanne, who top-scored for the visitors with 62, admitted the batsmen need to take responsibility after constant batting failures throughout the series.

“We have to take responsibility as a batting unit. In all games in this series, we have seen that our batsmen are dismissed by the 35th over. All players, including myself, need to take responsibility. We have to take a note on how to start the innings, how to consolidate and then how to finish off. Out of the six batsmen we play, four guys need to take responsibility,” Thirimanne said on Friday (October 20).

Sri Lanka have lost their last 11 ODIs (Credits: Getty)

“We have chatted about how to go about things. How to rotate the strike and how to hit the boundaries. But nothing is working for us at the moment. We have one game left, and we will see how it goes. Somehow we have to win the last game,” Thirimanne added as Sri Lanka lost their 11th consecutive ODI.

Sri Lanka’s batsmen have struggled against Pakistan’s spin duo of Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan. The spinners left their mark in the fourth game too, taking four wickets between them and Thirimanne admitted that his teammates have struggled to deal with the duo.

“Throughout the series, we have struggled to play the two of them. We have discussed how to rotate the strike against them and how to hit boundaries, but nothing seems to be clicking for us. As we are struggling against the two spinners, Hasan Ali comes in the middle overs and picks up wickets,” Thirimanne pointed out as Ali picked up three wickets in the game.

Shadab Khan along with Imad Wasim have been a big headache for the visitors in the series (Credits: Getty)

“I don’t think we have any technical issues. It has more to do with mental stuff. We have talent no doubt, and this team is a good team. But we have not been able to address the issues. We are repeating our poor performances,” he added.

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