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More finesse needed, warns Atapattu
Sri Lankan captain Marvan Atapattu has urged his side to play with greater determination or face elimination from the ICC Champions Trophy.
Sri Lankan captain Marvan Atapattu has urged his side to play with greater determination or face elimination from the ICC Champions Trophy.
The Sri Lankans, who struggled to beat Zimbabwe by four wickets here on Tuesday, face a Pool D decider with England in Southampton on Friday.
The winners will advance to the semi-finals with the losers being eliminated and Atapattu is concerned that his side's sometimes sloppy batting against the plucky Zimbabweans should not be taken into that crunch game.
"We need application more than improvement," said Atapattu.
"Knowing the conditions will also do a lot of good as we know what to expect now but we have got to do better."
Atapattu knows from experience how much pressure the home side will be under going into Friday's game.
They have shown a resurgence in Test form winning seven out of seven home Tests this summer but have yet to translate that fully to the one-day arena although they beat Zimbabwe comfortably in their opening game of the tournament.
And being at home brings its own stresses as Atapattu remembers from the 2002 tournament that was held in Sri Lanka.
