World T20: We can beat any team, warns Sri Lanka's Tillakaratne Dilshan

Kolkata, March 18: Sri Lankan opener Tillakaratne Dilshan said it would be a mistake to write off the defending champions after they returned to winning ways with a six-wicket victory over Afghanistan in their opening match of the ICC World Twenty20 here.

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"We have a team where whoever gets going finishes the job for us. We can go a long way, with our brand of cricket we can beat any team," the former Sri Lankan captain said after they chased down a victory target of 154 in their Group 1 Super 10 opener at the Eden Gardens last night. (Match report)

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After a string of three defeats in the Asia Cup and two defeats on the trot in the warmup here, Sri Lanka bounced back riding on Dilshan's sparkling 83 not out from 56 balls to seal the win with seven balls to spare here.

"Every team has seniors who can do the job, there's no doubt about that. Whoever got the start need to finish well. We're looking forward to do well."

Dilshan, who will turn 40 in October, was in his elements with his famous 'Discoop' and he said retirement was not in his mind.

"If I'm playing like this, I don't think about retirement. I'm enjoying and chill about my batting. I've not decided yet about retirement. But you never know, one fine morning after I get up, I might think otherwise. But at the moment I've no plans."

On his batting form, he said: "There's nothing special. I'm doing the same thing. I have had some bad games in the Asia cup and in New Zealand. But I don't think I've to change my technique. Nothing has changed much, I just need to focus."

The Eden Gardens track might have come for a lot of praise after it produced a belter when Pakistan got past 200 in their big win over Bangladesh on the same track but Dilshan said it was a bit slow.

"It was a bit slow and not easy to play spinners. I wanted to bat as long as possible. It's not easy to chase 150. They put up a very good total. They batted well, especially their captain. It was not an easy target to chase."

PTI