June 11, 2017
CARDIFF: Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews on Sunday said that his team is not thinking about the semifinal and their eyes are on the game against Pakistan at the moment.
Ahead of Sri Lanka versus Pakistan game in the ICC Champions Trophy — the last of group stage and a virtual quarterfinal — Mathews said that Pakistan is a dangerous side and his team needs to be at best to beat Sarfaraz XI.
"We are not trying to get too far ahead. We just want to take one game at a time. We're not thinking about the semifinal as of now. We're just taking Pakistan on tomorrow," he said.
"We've got to play really good cricket to beat them, and we all know that they're a very dangerous team. And they can play really good cricket on the day as well and beat any team," Mathews added.
The Sri Lankan captain added that there is no room for complacency in this kind of tournament and his team has to be on top to beat Pakistan.
"We've just got to treat this as just another game because we know that the pressure is on, obviously. And both teams will feel the pressure," he said.
Replying to a question, Sri Lankan captain said that Thisara Perera was feeling better after being hit on the head during practice session on Saturday but added that he was disappointed to lose a player like Kusal.
"We still haven't had a good look at the wicket. We'll probably decide later on or early morning tomorrow to give ourselves a chance to just see what the wicket looks like and then make a call," Mathews said when asked if Denanjaya de Silva would get an opportunity to play against Pakistan.
