CricketViewer.com

Paul Collingwood admitted England’s 119-run defeat in their opening One-day International against Sri Lanka here on Monday had been “an eye-opener” for his developing side.

Chasing the hosts’ competitive score of 269 for seven, England slumped to 150 all out to lose their eighth match in the last nine outings against Sri Lanka.

“This is where the character comes through and where we have to show our character,” he said. “It’s a small dent for us but we’re still confident we can turn it around. This has been a great eye-opener for everybody to see what needs to be done,” he explained.

Collingwood added: “It’s a proper scrap. When you go out onto that pitch, from ball one you know you’re in a scrap with the way they buzz around the field and they don’t give you anything”.

“These are the levels we need to get to. It’s exciting for us because at least we’ve been shown and given a lesson on how to scrap out in Sri Lanka and we have to up our work-rate,” he added.

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene, who top-scored for his side with a patient 66 off 74 balls, claimed it had been their bowling performance which was the difference between the two sides.

“Our bowlers bowled pretty well up front,” he said.

“We didn’t get early wickets but the way we came back and the areas we bowled were very good and we started picking up wickets,” he explained.

Source:Cricket News