'Executing under pressure concerns us' - Atapattu
Sri Lanka coach Marvan Atapattu said Lasith Malinga's lack of penetration, and the bowlers' failure to execute plans has paved their path to decline, though the plans themselves remain robust

"We haven't got the wickets quite regularly as you would expect from Lasith Malinga," coach Marvan Atapattu said • AFP
'Shehzad played exceptionally' - Azhar
Pakistan captain Azhar Ali lauded the consistency of his batsmen, as they chased down 252 with ease, to win their first ODI series in Sri Lanka since 2006. Pakistan's top order has made runs all through the series. On Wednesday, Ahmed Shehzad hit 95 and Mohammad Hafeez scored 70.
"Shehzad played exceptionally," Azhar said. "He played very positively and put the bad balls away. When Hafeez came, he played a crucial knock as they were putting a lot of pressure on us. He played like a senior player would play. We had a 100-run stand between them."
Pakistan's batsmen have also scored quickly throughout the series, notching run rates higher than six in each of the last two innings. "Once you have confidence that all the batsmen are in good form, you suddenly have a leverage to play fluently and take a few risks as well."
The victory had been set up by Pakistan's bowling, which has consistently been menacing through the tour. "When we got wickets we knew they lack a little bit of experience after Mathews - they didn't have a lot of in form batsmen," Azhar said. "When the wickets did come we knew that we can keep them to about 250 or 260."
Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo's Sri Lanka correspondent. @andrewffernando