Geelong (Victoria): Sri Lanka head coach Chris Silverwood has indicated he was a bit surprised following the triple strike from UAE spinner Karthik Meiyappan, but the “decent foundation” by top-order batters gave him the confidence the side would pull through in the First Round Group A match of the ICC T20 World Cup here on Tuesday.
Meiyappan produced a moment to remember at the T20 World Cup with a stunning hat-trick, ripping through the middle order and sealing the feat with a turner right through the gate to dismiss Dasun Shanaka.
However, despite the superb bowling effort, UAE lost by 79 runs chasing 152, getting dismissed for 73 runs.
Asked when Dasun Shanaka went to face the hat-trick ball and he became a victim of it, what was going through his mind, Silverwood, the former England chief coach, said, “Firstly, well-bowled to him (Meiyappan). For anybody to get a hat-trick in a World Cup is absolutely fantastic. Something he’ll remember forever.
“It’s just unfortunate that Dasun was part of a hat-trick. But we knew that we had people that could go in and bat. We knew we had a decent foundation to work from. And we knew that anything sort of above 140 would be a decent score having watched the first game,” said Silverwood.
Earlier, Sri Lanka’s opening batter Pathum Nissanka had laid a solid foundation with a 60-ball 74 to guide the reigning Asia Cup champions to a challenging 152/8.
Silverwood also indicated coming to terms with the cold weather was a bit unnerving for his side, saying his players, coming from tropical climate, are not used to it.
“I think certainly the temperatures we’re experiencing; the boys are not used to. So I do feel from — it’s not Colombo here. I’m even cold. Says a little bit. But obviously you can’t help but watch it, the preparation we’re given and the facilities and the help we were given having arrived early was superb.
“I can’t fault any of that. The boys have prepped the best we possibly can. We had a good camp before we actually got in an aeroplane and flew here. So, we’ve made the best of what we’ve had really. The boys have had some good practice,” added Silverwood.
–IANS