Dinesh Chandimal says the only positive for Sri Lanka was their slip fielding as they were totally outplayed by Australia.
Dinesh Chandimal says Sri Lanka’s struggling batsmen must “step up” after they were consigned to an emphatic whitewash by Australia in Canberra.
Mitchell Starc finished with match figures of 10-100 as Australia sealed a 366-run hammering and 2-0 clean sweep on day four.
Sri Lanka lost 3-0 to England and 1-0 to New Zealand in their previous two Test series and South Africa will be strong favourites to extend their dismal run when a two-match showdown starts a week on Wednesday.
The tourists were skittled out cheaply in all four innings against Tim Paine’s side and captain Chandimal knows they must raise their game against the Proteas.
“We were outplayed as a team in all three departments,” said Chandimal. “Credit goes to Australia; they have played some outstanding cricket throughout the series. They deserved to win like this.
“We just need to work harder than what we are doing. It’s always tough playing in Australia against a good bowling attack but we all know before we come here it’s always challenging.
“As a batting unit we have to step up. That’s the one area we have concern. I’m sure the boys will come good in South Africa.
“The only positive is the slip catching for our fast bowlers and that’s one positive we can take from this series. I don’t want to talk about the negatives and sure the boys we can learn from it and come good in South Africa.”
