Sri Lanka unfazed by England whitewash ahead of Super Eights clash

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka will not be fazed after their whitewash by England on the eve of the T20 World Cup when the two sides meet again in the Super Eights at the weekend, a coach said Wednesday.

The co-hosts will finish their group campaign in a dead-rubber against Zimbabwe on Thursday, but the team’s focus is already on locking horns with England again on Sunday.

Sri Lanka were beaten 3-0 by England on the eve of the World Cup, with all the matches taking place in Kandy, venue for their Super Eight clash.

Sri Lanka’s batting struggled against England. But they have bounced back in the tournament, with Pathum Nissanka scoring a magnificent century which effectively knocked out Australia on Monday.

“We have had three good games,” said batting coach Vikram Rathour.

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“I don’t think there were any issues as such during the England series with batting. We had some good games and not so good games.

“I wasn’t concerned about the results during that series. It was all about getting the process right.”

Rathour was part of India’s support staff when they won the T20 World Cup two years ago.

“We need to play to our strengths. We need to focus on the game and not think too much about the past or the future,” he said.

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Zimbabwe have been the T20 World Cup’s surprise package beating Australia on the way to qualifying for the Super Eights, where they will face the West Indies, co-hosts India and South Africa.

“Zimbabwe have played really well so far. They have a decent bowling unit,” said Rathour.

“We need to play to our potential. If we can stick to our plans and execute them well, that will be good for us.”

He paid tribute to Nissanka’s century against Australia.

“It was the almost perfect batting knock … one of the best T20 knocks you will ever see.”