We have given India a good scare,says Jayawardene

Despite losing the high-scoring humdinger by a narrow margin,Sri Lankas middle order batsman Mahela Jayawardene feels his team has thrown the gauntlet at India by coming so close to the massive home team total in the first ODI at Rajkot.

Despite losing the high-scoring humdinger by a narrow margin,Sri Lankas middle order batsman Mahela Jayawardene feels his team has thrown the gauntlet at India by coming so close to the massive home team total in the first ODI at Rajkot.

Yes,it¿s (three-run loss) a bitter pill to swallow. But there were lots of positives. Not many teams have chased down 400-plus. We have given India a good scare and thats a good positive going into this game, Jayawardene said ahead of the second match of the best-of-five series here tomorrow.

Lanka,chasing India’s mammoth 414,fell short of the target by three runs in Rajkot on Tuesday.

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Jayawardene did not feel that the absence of injured Muthiah Muralitharan and Dilhara Fernando has created a big problem for his team.

I don¿t see a problem. Obviously injuries in the past have taken good players away from us but we have not stopped playing or winning. It¿s a good opportunity for another guy to show what he¿s capable of. It¿s a great challenge for someone, he said.

The stylish right-handed batsman said that the team has left the disappointment of the loss behind after having spoken what needs to be done to improve in certain areas.

We have played enough cricket to realize we have won quite a few in the last over and lost quite a few in the last over. We have spoken about areas which we need to improve and would try to improve on them, he said.