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India v Sri Lanka, 11th ODI, CB Series, Hobart

'We seem to be making the same mistakes' - Jayawardene

Nagraj Gollapudi at the Bellerive Oval

February 26, 2008

	Sri Lanka failed to progress to the finals of the CB series after their batsmen once again failed to fire © Getty Images

"We haven't been consistent and competitive enough, especially with the bat. The batting has to be in really good form. We haven't done that in this series," Jayawardene said of a campaign which produced just one win, against India in a rain-reduced affair in Canberra.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni called correctly at the toss for just the third time in the series and put the opposition in, keeping in mind the windy and slightly overcast conditions in the morning. Sri Lanka lost Dilruwan Perera early on, but Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara showed aggressive intent and capitalised on some erratic bowling from the new-ball pair of Munaf Patel and Ishant Sharma.

But as soon as Irfan Pathan and Praveen Kumar were introduced into the attack, the batsmen stiffened and were unable to work a way out against the tight lines. Perhaps there was an element of complacency on the part of senior Sri Lankan batsmen, who ignored the very lesson they'd been stressing to their younger team-mates, of staying as long as possible at the wicket.

"We knew it was tough in the morning to bat. But again there was another collapse where we lost four wickets quickly and it was difficult to recover," Jayawardene said who described that collapse as the turning point of the match.

A target in the range of 250-275, Jayawardene felt, would've been challenging and he rued the fact that his batsmen could not build on starts. "It's more about confidence. [The] guys were getting out before they got in."

Sri Lanka's ODI fortunes have been sliding after darkness descended on that April evening in Barbados during the World Cup final, and they are still searching for the light. After defeating England by a 1-0 margin in the three-Test home series, they lost the one-day series 3-2. "The standards have come down since the World Cup. In the ODIs, we haven't been consistent all around - we need to find the right formula," Jayawardene said.

Jayawardene worried that the failure of the middle order, a problem against England, has continued in this series. "Good players come out of it, but we seem to be making the same mistakes."

In the months after the World Cup, Sri Lankan cricket has gone through a transition of sorts, with experienced cricketers like Marvan Atapattu and Russell Arnold retiring and younger talent being brought in and Jayawardene called for patience. "We need to be patient with some of the young talent and give them more time and the senior group should take up more responsibility."

Even in defeat, however, Jayawardene didn't forget to congratulate India, whom he felt deserved to be in the finals. "They played good cricket and credit to them for making the finals and we didn't deserve to be there."

Nagraj Gollapudi is an assistant editor at Cricinfo

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