Porterfield wants Ireland to learn from Shanaka
Ireland lost to Sri Lanka in the opening one-day international and captain William Porterfield is eager to level up the two-match series.
William Porterfield wants Ireland to draw inspiration from Dasun Shanaka after the Sri Lanka all-rounder marked his debut in style to earn his side victory in the opening one-day international.
The teams meet again in Dublin on Saturday with the tourists 1-0 up after triumphing by 76 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis Method on Thursday.
Debutant Shanaka registered figures of 5-43 and hit a quick-fire 42 with the bat as Ireland were restricted to 216 all out chasing a revised target of 293.
And Ireland captain Porterfield, who top scored for his side on 73, wants to see more from his men this weekend.
"You can always improve," he told Cricket Ireland. "The lad on debut [Shanaka] who scored the five-for has shown the lengths to hit and be as consistent.
"We bowled some very good balls in very good spells, but in stages maybe we could have been a lot more disciplined, especially in our lines. We got a bit too straight at times. That's something we need to work on."
The hosts will need to devise a plan for Dinesh Chandimal, who scored a brisk 100 not out first time around, while Kusal Medis (51) and skipper Angel Mathews (49) also made valuable contributions.
Shanaka's 42 came from just 19 deliveries as he hit five boundaries and three maximums.