Kumar Sangakkara celebrated his first stint as Sri Lanka's captain by dumping mighty Australia from the World Twenty20, then warned rivals he was hungry for more scalps
Kumar Sangakkara celebrated his first stint as Sri Lanka's captain by dumping mighty Australia from the World Twenty20, then warned rivals he was hungry for more scalps.
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"I can't ask for more, but this is just the start. We want to continue in the same vein," he said after the six-wicket win over Australia at Trent Bridge on Monday night.
The left-hander himself led from the front with an unbeaten 55, building on the robust 53 off 32 balls by Tillakaratne Dilshan, as Sri Lanka surpassed Australia's 159-9 with six balls to spare.
Ricky Ponting's men, beaten by the West Indies in their first match, bowed out of the tournament with their fifth successive Twenty20 defeat and ample time in hand to prepare for next month's Ashes series.
Sri Lanka and the West Indies, who take the two Super Eights places from the group, play each other in the inconsequential last league match on Wednesday.
"We don't want to take anything easy," said Sangakkara. "We want to beat the West Indies also, so that we are on a roll going into the Super Eights.
"I don't want us to get too carried away by just one win. The Twenty20 game can be very demanding. You have to be up to it every single day.
"It feels great to beat a side like Australia. It was a case of sticking to the basics, sticking to our game plan.
"But the key to beating Australia is that everyone in the squad must believe that we can win. Now there are a few areas we need to brush up on, so that we will be even better in the days ahead," he said.
Australia, sent in to bat on an even-paced wicket, managed only 159-9 in good batting conditions as mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis and fast bowler Lasith Malinga claimed three wickets each.
Jehan Mubarak hit 21 not out to keep his captain company till the end, which came when Mitchell Johnson sent down a wide off the first delivery of the final over.
Sangakkara said the stint in the Indian Premier League for many Sri Lankan players was a boon.
"It was a wonderful experience," he said. "There are 13 of us playing in the IPL and hopefully there will be many more next year.
"Even if you don't get a chance to play many games in the IPL, one learns from watching the greats, learn to be innovative, which is so essential in Twenty20 cricket."
It was Sri Lanka's first international match since the terror attack on their team bus in the Pakistani city of Lahore on March 3 which left seven players injured and killed eight Pakistani securitymen.
Sangakkara's team was greeted to Trent Bridge by some 100 people waving banners in protest against what they claimed was killing of innocent Tamils by the Sri Lankan armed forces in the war against the Tamil Tigers.
Asked to react on the protests, the captain said: "We are here to play cricket. Anything else does not bother us."
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