Nagpur, December 19: Sri Lankan opener Tillakaratne Dilshan, who made a match-winning 123 in the second ODI against India here, acknowledged that promotion up the order had brought about a transformation in his batting.
Dilshan has scored four out of his five centuries while opening the batting. He has struck 10 centuries this year.
”Opening has certainly helped me. I have got ten centuries. I have changed my mindset and started converting my 30s and 40s into big scores,” Dilshan said here last night.
An unbeaten 37 from Angelo Mathews took the visitors past the finish line the hosts had struck back with quick wickets. ”We had to take our chances and Mathews made sure we did not go down,” Dilshan said. Sri Lankan team manager Brendon Kuruppu said the fitness of Mathews, who used a runner late in his innings, can be assessed only after 24 hours.
”We don’t know exactly what has happened to him. We have to wait for 24 hours before deciding the course of action,” Kuruppu said.
–Agencies