Pallekele (Sri Lanka), February 21 Fielding coach R Sridhar on Saturday said that Sri Lanka has moved on from their 0-3 defeat at home to England in the run-up to the T20 World Cup, and believes that his team is now better equipped to react to different situations in Sunday's Super Eights match against the Three Lions here.
England whitewashed Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series just seven days before the start of the ongoing T20 World Cup, but Sridhar did not consider this a deterrent in producing a good performance against Harry Brook's side.
"At this stage of the tournament, it's very different from a bilateral series. I mean, bilateral series and private leagues, there's no pressure as much as there would be in a World Cup Super-8 game. And it applies to all teams, whether it's England, whether it's Sri Lanka, whether it's India or Pakistan, whoever it is, when you're playing a Super-8 game, you won't play with the same freedom as you would in a bilateral or a private league," Sridhar said in the pre-match press conference.
"So, the pressure will be the same for both teams. The teams that do things correctly under pressure, the teams that make fewer mistakes are the ones that are likely to go through," he added.
Despite the heavy defeat, the former India fielding coach said there were many positive takeaways from the series against England.
"We played, I remember the first game, we were bowled out for 130-odd, and there were a few learnings from that as a batting unit. We learned immediately in the next game that we posted a score of 180 or 190. Then there was a bit of rain interruption, and we saw some good batting at the back end from Tom Banton and the rest of the team, which took the game away.
"So, that was a learning, but we don't have the same bowlers now. (Wanindu) Hasaranga, who played that game, is injured. Matheesha (Pathirana), who played that game, is also injured. He's not available. So, we're slightly depleted in the bowling department. But at the same time, we've taken the lessons forward.
"I'm not talking about the third game because that's not the kind of a pitch we'll be playing on tomorrow. So, yeah, we've played enough against this team to be able to react to different situations and different batters. We saw them play in India as well, at Wankhede, where the ball was gripping a bit. So, yeah, we have the plans in place," he said.
Sridhar said the bowlers need to execute their plans better to restrict the explosive English batting lineup.
"The England team is obviously one of the best in the world. They have some big power hitters. So, we will be relying on our bowlers to execute the plans with more clarity and try to come back.
"There will be moments when you're going to be hit for sixes and fours, again and again, but we're going to try and come back and look for that one dot ball, look to finish the over well, and look to complement our partner in the bowling, and so on, so that we can have a very competitive game.
"I mean, the team knows what's required of them at this stage, and like all good teams, it's very important to reflect, learn, and move on, whether you had a good game or whether you had a loss. It's important for the team to move on and focus on what they need to do for the next game," he said.
Sridhar said Sri Lanka were a bit complacent in their defeat against Zimbabwe in their last group match.
"I think that was a good lesson – the Zimbabwe game. I think there could have been a bit of complacency after the score we put up on the board on that pitch. But that was again a fantastic lesson to learn, and yes, we were below par in terms of fielding inside the inner ring," he said.
"That is something that has been spoken about already, and this ground will probably prove a different challenge because the outfield being under covers for so many times and so much activity happening on the ground it will be a challenge to be really flash and brilliant on this ground. So, we'll have to look at the strategies we adapt as a fielding team on this outfield," he added.
