Angelo Mathews: The bowlers set up the win for Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka won the ODI series 2-1 by thumping Pakistan in the final game of the series at Dambulla by seven wickets. Only Fawad Alam managed to perform well for Pakistan by scoring 38 runs. In fact, Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan's captain bemoaned the fact they lost too many wickets early in the piece.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka's captain, Angelo Mathews, showered praises on the bowlers for their fine show. Thisara Perera picked up four wickets for Sri Lanka and was declared as the Man of the Match and Man of the Series.

Mathews said, "It was really hard to lose that game in Hambantota, but we turned it on. The bowlers bowled really well and set it up for us. I just wanted to experiment a few things, give Thisara Perera a few more overs and today, Dhammika Prasad also did well."

Mathews also said that the pitch got easier for batting, as the match progressed. He said, "The pitch flattened out in the second half, but chasing 100 odd.. you've got to play positively. It was really tough to play Pakistan because they are a balanced team, and we wish them all the best for the future."

Perera, bowled with control and used his variations to good effect to take four wickets. He said, "First of all, I am really proud of my performance. It's a good wicket to bowl on here, and we bowled really well as an unit."

Misbah wasn't happy with the way the top-order crumbled when the conditions were slightly tougher for batsmen. He said "The wicket is slightly different here in Dambulla. You've got to get used to it quickly, 240-250 would have been a good total, but we lost too many wickets early. Alam and I were looking to stay there till 30-35 overs but then again, we lost wickets."

Misbah summed up by saying that they need to get their combination right going into the ICC World Cup 2015. He said, "We've a picture of what we need to do in the next few games. The new management has a clear idea of where we need to be in the future. Every game is going to be important from here because we need to get the combination right for the ICC World Cup 2015."