da bwin： After a disappointing performance by New Zealand, the Kiwi captainStephen Fleming still remained positive about his side’s chances ofmaking it to the Coca-Cola Cup final
Rex Clementine31-Jul-2001After a disappointing performance by New Zealand, the Kiwi captainStephen Fleming still remained positive about his side’s chances ofmaking it to the Coca-Cola Cup final."I think we’ve got a good chance. If India lose tomorrow we arethrough to the final. We can put aside this dismal performance andcome back with a good one when we meet India," said Fleming whoseside was comprehensively beaten by Sri Lanka by 107 runs."Very disappointing performance. But once again the Sri Lankansplayed exceptionally well. We didn’t push hard in this game,"reflected Fleming. "We’ve never played on this ground. So we didn’tknow what’s a good score. The partnerships helped the Sri Lankans toput up a good score."The Black Caps so far in the tournament have been struggling againstspin. But this time around the fast bowlers did most of the damage,"The fast bowlers really bowled well. They achieved a lot of movementand took the game away from us. They just destroyed us in the firstten overs," said Fleming.Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya was thrilled about his side’sperformance. "It was a good all-round performance. It was nice to gopast 220 and then the bowlers did very well to restrict them. Thecream of the batting was back in the pavilion by the 10th over."Fleming put Sri Lanka in on winning the toss. Jayasuriya revealed hewould have done the same had he had won the toss. "It was a good tossto lose. I would have bowled first had I won the toss."Jayasuriya was also happy with the way the batsmen played. "All thebatsmen are among the runs. That’s what is important. Only Mahela wasstruggling and now he’s among the runs as well. After this, hisconfidence level was high and this was evident in the field."Sri Lanka are through to the final and when asked as whether theywould rest some of the players to give others a chance, Jayasuriyasaid, "We haven’t decided on the team for the Indian game yet."Man of the match Chaminda Vaas bowled a superb spell of fast bowlingchanging the cause of the game as he sent back three of the top orderbatsmen back to the pavilion in his first spell."I would have loved to bowl first. The conditions were ideal for fastbowling. But things worked very well for me later in the day," saidthe Sri Lankan fast bowler. "I loved the wicket of Jacob Oram. Theball really moved away from the batsman."Vaas who bowled a first spell of 5-1-10-3 did not get any wickets inhis second spell, "I would have loved to end up with five wickets andSanath gave me a second spell as well but it didn’t work."