Sangakkara provides spunky riposte to selectors

Ok, we lost, but the result was of less significance than the performance of Kumar Sangakkara, who played his finest one-day innings, fully justifying his last-minute inclusion into the squad.

Sangakkara never deserved the chop. His wicket-keeping was at times ragged during the World Cup but his form with the bat improved steadily throughout the tournament - the lingering feeling was that he was batting too low in the order.

Nevertheless, the jolt he received when he was first omitted from the Sharjah squad appears to have had a positive impact, making him determined to prove his worth to the side.

Whether the lifting of the wicket-keeping burden contributed is a moot point. Many will say so but the statistics suggest otherwise - he averages 31.22 in 54 matches with the gloves and only 23.04 in 32 matches as a specialist batsman.

Of greater consequence is his position in the order and it is hoped that he will now be given an extended chance to bed down at number three or four, positions that allow him to build an innings in orthodox fashion.

However, apart from Sangakkara, and Kumar Dharmasena later, who looked at ease on his return to the international fray, the batting was once again a concern. Clearly, Mahela Jayawardene needs to be slotted back in as soon as he has freshened up and forgotten his horror run in the World Cup.

Prasanna Jayawardene also had a nightmare start to his international career, playing all around a quick leg-stump yorker. There is no doubting his efficiency behind the stumps but he must prove his batting or make way - you simply cannot afford to have a specialist wicket-keeper in the modern day that cannot sit comfortably in the top seven.

The absence of Aravinda de Silva and Russel Arnold (who must be hankering after an opportunity higher up the order) certainly reduced options with the ball and that is a serious concern with Sanath Jayasuriya is now overly reliant on five bowlers. If someone has a bad day then there will be problems.

Probably, Sri Lanka would have preferred three seamers with the dew causing such problems later on. But with Chaminda Vaas crook the only option was for Prabath Nissanka to play ahead of Dharmasena and that would have involved considerably more risk with no part-timers to chip in should his radar misfire. Moreover, such a move would have weakened the batting.

Indeed, Sri Lanka are a side grappling with issues, including the balance of the side and the best personnel. That is inevitable as they try to look to the future but it does carry a price. Unfortunately, matches will be lost that could have been won.

But, in this tournament, the end result is off secondary importance. Yesterday, Sangakkara gave Sri Lankan fans something to cheer, on Sunday lets hope someone else raises their hand.