Udawatte heaps praise on Chandimal for win

Hyderabad: Ruhunu Eleven captain Mahela Udawatte on Wednesday heaped praise his batsman Dinesh Chandimal whose solid knock of 62 not out helped his side beat Leicestershire by four runs and keep their Champions League Twenty20 qualification hopes alive.

"I think the wicket is much better than the one in first match. First two wickets we lost early, after that our batters played well," Udawatte said at the post-match press conference. "Chandimal is one of our key players. Myself, Sanath both of us got out early, he (Chandimal) played a mature innings. He tried to play for 20 overs. So, that took us to 160," he added. "Jayasuriya did not do well. But he is our main batsman. Those kind of things happen," said Udawatte. Chandimal, on his part, said he was happy to have contributed for the cause of his team. "I am happy to have contributed for the team. After top batsmen Sanath and Mahela got out, I tried to play for 20 overs. I play my natural game," he said. Leicestershire skipper Andrew McDonald rued that 161 was a chaseable target but his side faltered. "It was a good wicket and 160 was chasable. We have no excuses. Poor choice of shots led to our downfall. We probably should have won that. It is very disappointing," he said. He said the ideal format of the qualifying round would have been the six teams play each other in round robin league and top three qualify for main round. "Six teams play each other once that might be a fair way. To qualify, it is always hard, especially for English teams straight after their season. It is pretty tough to play two games and then walk home when you start acclimatizing," he said. PTI