Atapattu promises improvements

Marvan Atapattu, Sri Lanka's captain, vowed that his team will put up a better performance after their unconvincing six-wicket win in the first one-dayer against Zimbabwe.

Sri Lanka allowed Zimbabwe to recover from 78 for 5 to 211 for 6, and then went through some anxious moments themselves before finally winning on the Duckworth-Lewis system. "We would have liked to have won more convincingly," said Atapattu, "but when you play a team of unknown quantity, something like this is bound to happen.

"There is always one side who are favourites to win a game, and that was us. That thought put us under more pressure than a normal game. To a certain extent, we knew we were not playing Zimbabwe's best team. At 78 for 5, we thought they were not going to double that score. But we are only humans. We tried to avoid complacency as much as possible, but still it happened.

"At this level of cricket we know what the opposition are going to be about individuals, players and their capabilities, their strong and weak points. Playing a side like this, who we haven't come across, we didn't know what to expect. They had only to walk into the middle and had everything to play for."

However, Atapattu added that his team now have a better assessment of the opposition. "We have seen the players and we know what their capabilities are to a certain extent. I am sure we will approach tomorrow's game much better than we did the last one."

He admitted that there were some anxious moments in the dressing room during Sri Lanka's run-chase. "We were not worried because we lost some early wickets, but by the fear of losing to an under-strength side. We will have to try to forget the "we can't lose" attitude, and start thinking positively. Playing a side like Zimbabwe you think you just can't lose to them which puts added pressure on the team."

Atapattu praised Kumar Sangakkara's innings of 73 not out, and said that he should be finishing more games for Sri Lanka in the future. "With his talent he should be finishing more games than he has in the past. When I asked him after the match he indicated to me that he had finished about five to six matches in this manner. I made it a point to tell him that the way he is batting he should be finishing games for his country more often."

Regarding team selection, Atapattu said Sri Lanka are contemplating whether to play three seamers or an extra batsman. Nuwan Kulasekara had a poor game, going for 26 runs in three overs, and could be replaced by Dilhara Fernando. "You just can't discard a player on his performance in one game," Atapattu said. "You expect one bowler to go off or three batsmen to go off in a game. It happened in the case of Kulasekara. I am sure he will come back."