Theekshana jibe at England: 'We were underestimated'

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Sri Lanka's Dhananjaya de Silva, Maheesh Theekshana and Angelo Mathews celebrate the wicket of Mark Wood.

IMAGE: Sri Lanka's Dhananjaya de Silva, Maheesh Theekshana and Angelo Mathews celebrate the wicket of Mark Wood. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Reuters

Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana took a jibe at England, saying the defending champions underestimated the Islanders at their own peril and suffered a heavy eight-wicket defeat which could well have ended their semi-final aspirations at the World Cup.

Sri Lanka’s bowlers were spot-on, bundling out England for 156 on a spongy-bounced wicket. They then rode on fifties by Sadeera Samarawickrama and Pathum Nissanka to emerge triumphant.

"I think they underestimated our team because we also lost three games and we only won against the Netherlands.

"That's why the result went our way… because we backed our strengths. We went in with a simple plan, so that's why we won the game today," said Theekshana at the post-match press meet in Bengaluru on Thursday.

Sri Lanka’s bowlers had a woeful time in the first four matches, leaking runs aplenty and South Africa even mustered a 400-plus total.

Theekshana said the Lankans executed their plans better against England.

"In the first four games we didn't bowl well in the middle overs. I think we lost three games because of our bowling. So we did some practice sessions to get more discipline; all the fast bowlers did their hard work before the game so they know what they had to do in the game (today)," he added.

Theekshana admitted that the surface at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, often batsmen's ally, changed its character a bit during this match as the bowlers too got some purchase.

"I have played an IPL match (here) and the pitch was different. (Today) there was a bit of turn, pace and bounce. In that IPL match, the pitch was flat and scoring runs was relatively easy.

"I'm not implying that it was tough to accumulate runs in this match, as we managed to score 150 runs with just two wickets down."

The victory over England, Theekshana said, will help Sri Lanka to approach upcoming matches with more confidence.

"Our confidence as a team has increased a lot. In this match we got a very big victory. We are looking to play well in the upcoming four matches and reach the semi-finals."