Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene admitted on Sunday that Kenya, who defeated his team in a stunning 2003 World Cup triumph, still have players to cause another shock when the two meet on Tuesday. Eight years ago, Sri Lanka lost by 53 runs to Kenya in Nairobi as the unheralded Africans went on to reach the semi-finals. Jayawardene is one of three survivors from that game, along with skipper Kumar Sangakkara and spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.
"We know all about the embarrassment of losing to Kenya after that debacle in Nairobi back in 2003 and they have some useful players in their ranks," said Jayawardene, who made just five runs as his team were bowled out for 157.
Sri Lanka go into the Group A match at the R. Premadasa stadium on the back of an 11-run defeat to Pakistan on Saturday with former captain Jayawardene urging his team to stay focused. "Our priority must remain to stay focused on the next game against Kenya on Tuesday night," he said, writing a column in the privately-run Sunday Times newspaper.
"There will be some bigger matches ahead this week as the pace of the tournament picks up.