"Australians attacking approach tilted the scale in our favour," says Mahela Jayawardene who was awarded with Man-of-the-Match for his brilliant innings, which allowed Sri Lanka to post a respectable total of 253 runs against Australia at Oval on Monday. Mahela played a match winning knock of 84 runs off 81 balls because of which the Lankan Tigers managed to beat the Aussies in the stiff contest by 20 runs and also helped them to advance in the semis of ICC Champions Trophy 2013.
Sri Lanka have always been one of the most consistent team in the ICC tournaments and by reaching the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy they have proved their supremacy once again. The right-handed batsman was impressed with the approach of Aussie batting who were looking for semi-final berth rather than for a consolation win. Australia had to chase down Sri Lanka's 253 for 8 in 29.1 overs to book a place in the semis.
Former Sri Lanka skipper and man of the match Mahela Jayawardene was quoted by The Hindu saying, "I'm glad the Australians did not go for the regulation win and went for the shot in the semis. Australia always play for a win. That attacking approach of the Australians helped us in the long run as we could pick wickets and go into a winning position."
Jayawardene, who was the cornerstone of Sri Lanka's batting , said that players in the side have always enjoyed each other's success and that has been a key factor in this tournament too. He was quoted by Deccan Chronicle saying, "The spirit in the team is always important factor with us. Enjoying each other's successes has been our key. For me personally, the icing on the cake was winning the match and making it to the semis. It was a good surface to bat on and we knew we had to put the runs on the board as Australians had to chase down the target quickly.
"We will enjoy our win overnight and refocus our attentions to the game against India, who are playing excellent cricket at the moment," the 36-year-old added.
Meanwhile the recent reports in DNA quoted, Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews, saying "I have never seen such a huge Sri Lankan contingent at the Oval, loads of thanks to our fans. Our first aim was to reach the semis and we did it. Lot of credit has to go to Mahela and Lahiru Thirimanne, who batted sensibly for us."
