New Zealand – 167/7, Sri Lanka – 102
Q. Your team was quite confident coming into this match. Analyse what actually went wrong for you in today’s game.
DASUN SHANAKA: I thought we started really well. The dropped catches, I think that’s a game changer in this game. So Glenn Phillips scored 100, a brilliant 100, so I think that was the turning point in this game.
Q. Despite that, chasing about 160 —
DASUN SHANAKA: Really I think we could have kept them to like score like 130, 140 if we got that wicket. Yet again, we didn’t bat well up front. So we know that on these wickets it’s tough. The first two overs are going to be the toughest two overs.
We were three down after two. So it’s never going to help us when we’re chasing 160.
Q. How tough were the batting conditions out there? Obviously no one was really able to get a really big score besides Glenn Phillips. I guess, as a result, how good were Glenn Phillips’ innings considering those conditions?
DASUN SHANAKA: It was an outstanding knock on a tough wicket. He took a while to get settled in, and then he got his time and there was a lot of time to hit the ball. So I think he take his time, and I think that’s where many of the other batsmen were not good.
Q. Have you watched many of the other matches here at Sydney so far? It looked like bowling slow was a real key tactic for you early on.
DASUN SHANAKA: Yeah, we were never expecting it to be slow like this, this wicket. We expected it to be a better wicket than this. Still it happens. It might turn sometimes with the changing of conditions.
It was not the best wicket today, but still a good wicket to play cricket.
Q. And just the last one, you mentioned some of those fielding mistakes and dropped catches. What’s the key to making sure they don’t happen again in the next game?
DASUN SHANAKA: No one wants to drop catches when we play international cricket. So we don’t need to point out anyone, and we don’t want to blame anyone. What we need to do is to regroup in the next game and come sharp in the next two games actually.
Q. Dasun, you had six injuries so far in the tournament. How tough is it to lose some of your top players and then to bring in replacements from Colombo and even they break down? As captain, how tough has it been for you?
DASUN SHANAKA: It’s uncontrollable, so we can’t expect players to be fit. There might be times that more and more players will get injured.
So first we have to check and see why was the reason behind the players getting injured. I don’t have the control, only the controllable thing is when the players come to the field so I can get the maximum out of them.
Apart from that, it’s a concern, but I don’t consider much on that.
Q. Do you still believe that you’ll get a chance to make it to the semifinals?
DASUN SHANAKA: Yeah, obviously. So the next two games, if we can get through those two games, especially with a good run rate, I think we’ve got a better chance to make it to the semis.
Q. Dasun, just a follow on from what was said there, at times this whole year there have been times where you’ve had big defeats and people thought can you bounce back from that? You obviously have done. You won the Asia Cup not too long ago. Does that give you confidence that you can still progress in this tournament, that you can have a good performance even after a defeat like this one?
DASUN SHANAKA: We have bounced back in the past, especially this young team. So they have gone through a lot of hard times. So I think we still can bounce back from this situation and manage to get to the semis.
Q. Just on the start of your run chase, when you lost a lot of early wickets to Trent Boult and Tim Southee, was there anything you could have done differently as a batting unit at that point just to try to give yourselves a foundation for that target?
DASUN SHANAKA: It was always about playing straight with a moving ball. We were not good in this game. So next game we are looking forward to do well.
Q. Talking about your batting, your batting performances in this World Cup so far, not only today’s match, also in maybe a match you lost in the earlier stage due to batting. So is batting a bigger problem for you than bowling at the moment?
DASUN SHANAKA: There’s nothing to be a problem when you play international cricket. It happens, you know. It’s just one game. Maybe it was a bad game for us, but after that we played good cricket in the tournament.
So today is the worst day with batting. I think it was the worst we’ve played with batting. So what is important is to regroup as a batting unit and win the next two games.
Q. What do you think you need to do so you have hope in the rest of the tournament?
DASUN SHANAKA: As I mentioned before, we have gone through a lot of tough times. So I think we can still bounce back from this point.
