The top order of Sri Lanka hasn’t had the best tour so far in this, but on Sunday in Auckland, they started to sync.
Despite the fact that Pathum Nissanka was out after the first delivery, Kusal Mendis scored 25 runs in just nine balls, Dhananjaya de Silva added 15 runs in ten, and Charith Asalanka and Kusal Perera advanced quickly, scoring nearly 10 runs per over while putting on a stand of more than 100 runs.
As a result, Sri Lanka was able to tie the game and win it in extra time for their first victory of the tour. Perera, who was playing in his first competitive match in around 15 months, could use the intent shown by all those hitters as a guide for future success in the format.
“It’s hard to play a T20 without momentum, and to win in T20 cricket you need a batter to provide that momentum,” Perera said after the game.
“I went ahead with a positive mindset, I wasn’t thinking about how long I had been out. Likewise, all the other batters also went out with a positive mindset, and that’s how we managed to capitalize on the conditions.”
In terms of his own performance, Kusal Perera knew he wasn’t quite at his most destructive, but he remained optimistic that with more regular game time, a more recognisable “match rhythm” would return.
“Of course, being out there in the middle and playing, I’m very happy with my performance. More than that I’m happy that the team won. That said, I know there’s room for improvement and that will only come as I improve my match rhythm.”
Being one of the team’s elders at the age of 32, Perera’s 45-ball 53 during which he batted through the innings showed his changing position in the lineup.
He used to be the player the team looked to for inspiration, but now he seems satisfied to bat deep and let bowlers like Mendis and Asalanka handle the attack. Asalanka scored 67 runs off of 41 total in this match, totaling 103 runs.
“A lot of the batters showed good initiative, but batting with him [Asalanka] was easy as he took the strike and took on the bowling. That took the pressure off me, and what I tried to do from that point was turn over the strike and bat deep. When you have an innings like that of Asalanka’s, more often than not you’re going to be nearing 200.”
The action will now shift to Queenstown and Dunedin, where it will likely be much cooler. Younger members of the team will get essential experience, in Perera’s opinion, during trips like these overseas, when they will encounter unexpected circumstances and weather.
“We know that the next venue is going to have different conditions, we just need to figure out how to be as competitive as we were today.”
“For me, experience means knowing how to handle certain situations. There are a lot of young players in the squad, and what I’ve told them is you have started learning now how to handle uncomfortable situations.”
“Bowlers aren’t going to bowl how you like, they’re going to analyse you and be aware of your strengths and weaknesses. We need to be smart in those situations.”