Sangakkara wants team to improve after miraculous win over Australia

SYDNEY - Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara wants the team to show considerable improvement after their miraculous one-day cricket win over Australia.

Sri Lamka pulled off one of the all-time great wins at the MCG in front of a sparse crowd that mainly consisted of Lankan fans.

Chasing Australia’s 8-239 at the start of the three-match series, Sri Lanka were gone at 8-107. But man-of-the-match Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga smashed 132 off 110 balls, a world record for the ninth wicket in a one-day international.

Sri Lanka will play Australia again in Sydney on Friday night and Sangakkara has warned his team must not let the amazing win go to their heads.

“We need to talk a bit more about how to play better cricket out there - talk more and do even more,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Sangakkara, as saying.

“Once we set our plans, we have to follow them to the letter and that’s how we can move towards victory. Come Sydney, we can’t afford to make most of the mistakes we made (at the MCG) and expect this to happen again, because it doesn’t happen often,” he said.

Sri Lanka is now well placed to win a series in Australia for the first time.

Sangakkara noted that the win was very lucky, and criticised the team for poor fielding and some bad decisions with the bat. (ANI)