Upul Tharanga wants top order batsmen to fire
![Sri Lankan one-day international cricket captain Upul Tharanga attends a practice session ahead of their second ODI cricket match against in Pallekele. (Photo: PTI) Sri Lankan one-day international cricket captain Upul Tharanga attends a practice session ahead of their second ODI cricket match against in Pallekele. (Photo: PTI)](https://s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/images.asianage.com/images/aa-Cover-iss492mpkj8bbr8fg1dsq0e9a1-20170824070009.Medi.jpeg)
Pallekele: Sri Lanka skipper Upul Tharanga on Wednesday asked his top order batsmen to fire against a dominant India, urging them not to throw their wickets in the second one-day international, here on Thursday.
Sri Lanka were positioned nicely in the first ODI at 139/1 but lost nine wickets for just 77 runs. “To get to a big total we need the top four batsmen to fire. One or two of them must make a big score. That’s what we have seen in the past 10-15 years. If a player gets a century then we can put up a good total between 280-300,” Tharanga said.
“What I expect from the batsmen is once they have settled in, they should bat the entire innings and take us to a decent total.
“If you look at the past results we have been in good positions in the first 20-25 overs,” added Tharanga.