Dasun Shanaka had a dream debut: Angelo Mathews

Sri Lanka beat Ireland by 76 runs in the first ODI and the Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews is more than happy with the performance of the debutant Dasun Shanaka, who scored 42 runs off 19 balls and picked up 5 wickets, while he came to bowl in the Ireland innings.

Mathews said, “Dasun had a dream debut and we are all happy for him and hopefully he will continue in the next few matches,”

“It’s nice to get the momentum on your side,” he added.

He feels that the win against Ireland would give them some kind of confidence before facing England in the ODI series. “We have not done well in England and we have lost the Test series, but we have now won in similar conditions and can look forward to the one-day series (against England) coming up.”

Also read – Ireland v Sri Lanka, 1st ODI – 5 Talking Points

The wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Chandimal remained unbeaten on 100, who along with Kusal Mendis laid the platform for the big score. Shanaka’s quick fire 42 powered Sri Lanka to 300 and he also made his impact with the second ball he bowled with the wicket of Paul Stirling.

“It was a challenge for the batsmen but they put up a good effort. In these conditions, you have to rotate the strike and build partnerships so you can set it up for the middle-order batters. I thought we got a brilliant start and the debutant, Kusal Mendis, batted brilliantly to score 51 and Chandimal have been batting brilliantly throughout,” he said.

Mathews, who himself scored 49 runs off 53 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes also added, “Shanaka then scored 42 off just 19 balls and finished the job for us,”

Also check out – Ireland v Sri Lanka, 1st ODI – Statistical Highlights

William Porterfield (73) and Kevin O’Brien (64) added 69 for the fourth wicket, but Porterfield was dismissed just before the rain interruption. “I got out just before the rain which set us back and that proved crucial to our hopes of winning,” said Porterfield. “We couldn’t put together any partnerships at the end and Shanaka bowled very well.”

Both the teams will meet on Saturday for the second ODI at Malahide before Sri Lanka go back to England for the ODI series.