Hasaranga credits fielding for turnaround in first ODI

Sri Lankan leg spinner Wanindu Hasaranga has credited his side's fielding efforts in the opening ODI as they earned a 77-run win over Bangladesh on the back of some energetic fielding display.

Bangladesh were cruising comfortably at 100/1 at one stage before the collapse began as Milan Rathnayake came up with a flat throw from the deep square to run out Najmul Hossain brilliantly, who made 23. The onus was on half-centurion Tanzid Hasan, after Litton Das was out for a duck, to take the game deep but that also came to an end after a stunning catch by Janith Liyanage at mid-off and what followed next was one spectacular collapse.

"Milan Rathnayake was outstanding. So was Janith Liyanage. We have shown that how we can change games with our fielding and this game is a further proof for that," Hasaranga said. "They were cruising at one stage. That run out from Milan changed the game. Then of course Janith Liyanage pulled off a stunner and that turned the game in our favour.

Hasaranga added that they were confident of defending their total after putting up close to 250 on the board. "It is the usual RPS wicket. When we played Australia and India, we knew if we get something in between 240 to 250 batting first, we could defend that with the bowling we have. It is the usual RPS pitch," said Hasaranga.

"I think they felt that they should go with a seam heavy attack. But you need to adjust to conditions quickly. Bangladeshi batters took on our quicks probably knowing that when the spinners come on it will be tough to score runs. Asitha bowled well as he usually does. I think it was good to see the way the bowlers adjusted," he said adding that they decided to bring him as late as in the 18th over due to a tactical reason.

"Charith, Kusal and I had a chat and we decided to hold myself back. The plan was that since they have too many left-handers in the top order, for me to come as late as possible and attack the right-handers," he said.

Hasaranga praised the batting unit for their ODI turnaround as he feels they are going in the right direction under the leadership of Charith Asalanka. "He (Charith) goes around his business as a mature player. He handles the middle situations well and gets the other batters to build partnerships," said Hasaranga.

"He has a knack to get the best out of his batting partners. He has been key for our success and he has been amongst runs for us in the last 18 months or so. Every batter has started contributing for the team. That's something that we didn't have a few years ago. Why we are wining consistently nowadays is that the batters are doing their job and things are made easy for the bowlers."

Hasaranga said that he is happy to contribute for the team despite several injury setbacks as he completed his 100th ODI wicket on the eighth anniversary of his international debut. "I missed a lot of cricket due to my injuries and the surgery that I had to undergo. The toughest part was missing a World Cup due to injury and very happy to have contributed for the success of Sri Lanka as I am proud about it," said Hasaranga.

"I wasn't aware of the 1000-run milestone but I knew I just needed one wicket for 100 wickets. It's a day I complete eight years as an international cricketer and very pleased with this and I hope to continue in the same way."