Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews believes opener Lahiru Thirimanne is ready to step into the shoes of veteran Kumar Sangakkara after the 24 year-old scored a brilliant century to anchor Sri Lanka’s winning chase in the Asia Cup final against Pakistan.
Thirimanne scored 101 for his third one-day hundred, and second of the tournament, as Sri Lanka chased a 261-run target in 46.2 overs.
Mathews revealed that the opener had been playing with a niggle and the application he showed while batting was commendable having missed most of Sri Lanka’s series against Bangladesh with an ankle injury.
“Thirimanne has been amazing for us,” Mathews said. “He got injured, unfortunately, in the last series but he came back for us. He had a little bit of a niggle still, while he was batting, in the last two games, and he was very courageous to come out and play, the way he did.
“I am very happy, because you push him up the order, you push him down the order [and he still gets runs]. He’s one of those players who never gets a chance at one spot. And wherever he gets the opportunity he scores runs for us. And that’s a team player for me, and he performed very well for us, he’s a great find.”
When asked if Thirimanne had been seen as Sangakkara’s possible replacement in the Sri Lanka setup, Mathews agreed: “Yeah, after Sangakkara and Mahela [Jayawardene] retire, Thirimanne and [Dinesh] Chandimal are the ones who are going to take the reins. It is not easy to fill their shoes, but the way they are performing right now, I’m pretty sure they’ll take responsibility in the future.”
As Matthews states, Thirimanne has been thrust up and down the order during his 62-match ODI career and, after his century in the final, his average in the top three rose to 49.08 in 14 innings, while at No4 or lower, he averages 22.80 in 33 innings.
Mathews said the team had not decided where he will bat in the future.
“We’ve got to see how it goes,” Mathews said. “He opened the batting because [Tillakaratne] Dilshan got injured in the Bangladesh series. As I said before, he’s one of those players, you give him the opportunity, wherever you bat him, he will score runs for us. We still haven’t thought about where he’s going to bat, but definitely he’s been a find for us this tournament.”
Talisman Lasith Malinga also had a great outing in the final, picking up all five Pakistani wickets to fall, the second time during the tournament that he managed to do so against the same opposition, delighting Matthews in the process.
“I am really happy that he rested against Bangladesh,” Mathews added. “It’s not easy to play consistently, especially for the fast bowlers who especially tire out so much.
“We don’t have a lot of time in between matches so it’s always good to manage the fast bowlers, especially their workloads, and we saved him for the final.
“He got a five-for in the first game against Pakistan, and also another five-for today, so he’s been performing tremendously for us and he’s been our premier bowler for so many years.”
Meanwhile, thousands of fans lined up the streets of Colombo as a victorious Sri Lankan team returned home after clinching their fifth Asia Cup title.
The players were taken to Sri Lanka Cricket’s headquarters in an open-top bus as fans lined the streets, waving flags, decked in blue to celebrate their heroes' efforts in Bangladesh.
