NEW DELHI: Sri Lankan batsman Sadeera Samarawickrama emphasised that the team cannot afford to make mistakes in their remaining World Cup matches, given their one win in four games.
The island nation secured their first victory by defeating the Netherlands by five wickets in Lucknow.
Samarawickrama played a crucial role with an unbeaten 91 as Sri Lanka successfully chased down their target of 263, doing so with 10 balls to spare. This win came against a strong Dutch team that had recently surprised South Africa in their previous match.
Sri Lanka had previously suffered losses to Australia, Pakistan, and South Africa, and their upcoming challenge is against the struggling defending champions, England.
"Actually, our plan was about how to win a game after the three games we lost and how to gain momentum as a team," man of the match Samarawickrama told reporters.
"Now, we know that next, we have to play very good teams. We don't really have time to make mistakes. Moving forward, we must give 100 percent effort. It's only by doing that we can sustain our presence in this tournament."
Samarawickrama held the innings together and put on partnerships of over 70 runs with Dhananjaya de Silva and Charith Asalanka after opener Pathum Nissanka hit 54.
It was Samarawickrama's sixth ODI fifty as well as making 108 in the loss to Pakistan.
"Actually, I didn't look up to my scores because we needed a win," he said.
"So that's the main part so I think as a team we did really well today and as an individual I'm really happy that I got 91, unfortunately not 100 - but it's good to be in the winning team."
Fast bowlers Dilshan Madushanka and Kasun Rajitha took four wickets each to set up victory after they kept down the Dutch to 262 all out.
"The bowlers performed admirably today, benefitting from favourable pitch conditions," said Samarawickrama.
"In particular, Kasun Rajitha and Dilshan Madushanka exhibited exceptional performances right from the beginning. Aside from that crucial partnership, our bowlers maintained their excellence throughout the match today."
(With AFP Inputs)The TOI Sports Desk excels in a myriad of roles that capture the ...
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