Flamboyant Sri Lanka batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa said that the win over Afghanistan in the Super 4 stage on Saturday is redemption for his team as they lost to Mohammad Nabi’s side in a one-sided contest earlier in the group stage. Lanka produced a collective performance with the bat on Saturday to register an emphatic 4-wicket win at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Rajapaksa scored a quickfire 31 runs off 14 balls to help Sri Lanka chase down the target with ease. He struck 4 fours and a six to make things easy for his team.
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Rajapaksa said that his team thought 175 was a good score posted by Afghanistan but when he came out to bat the wicket looked good for batting which allowed him to play his shots.
“When I went to bat in, it was just a matter of connecting the ball well and running initially, but the wicket seemed quite good, and we thought 175 was a pretty good score. All in all, the boys did a great job and it was a fantastic win for us,” Rajapaksa told broadcasters.
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The southpaw further revealed that Sri Lanka’s initial plan was to use him at number 3 where he batted in IPL 2022 for Punjab Kings but later the team management pushed him down the order to strengthen middle-order.
“In the IPL I have batted at number 3, and coming back to Sri Lanka’s squad, they wanted me to bat at number 3 initially, but in order to strengthen the middle-order they wanted me to bat at number 5, or number 6,” he added.
Rajapaksa said that the win was a redemption for the Lankan team as they wanted to prove that they are not as bad which some were claiming after their defeat against Afghanistan in the group stage.
“It was a bit of a redemption, because in the last game they managed to get us all out for 105, so we wanted to raise our hands up and show the entire world that we are not as bad we were the other night,” Rajapaksa said.
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