With this win, New Zealand, who earlier had earned one point after a washout against Pakistan, are now in second spot with three points and have a chance to move to the semifinals, with their final Super Eight clash against semifinalists England being important.
During the discussion, the cricketers urged PM Modi’s support for developing a high-quality cricket ground in the northern part of Sri Lanka, especially in Jaffna.
Mendis was part of the national squad which had resumed training after the COVID-19 lockdown.
While an in-house fitness training at the hotel will start from 1 June, ground training will resume only on 2 June.
Mickey Arthur took over the reins of Sri Lanka cricket team in December and his toughest test yet awaited in a two-match home series against England.
The match was scheduled to begin at 10:30 am (local time) but was called off in the afternoon. This is the first match at the Cricket World Cup 2019 in England to be washed out.
The only thing comforting for Sri Lanka is the fact that Pakistan too is coming from a similar background in the World Cup - a big defeat and then a victory. However, Pakistan's victory came against World Cup favourites England and their batting did step up when the going was tough.
Sri Lanka again came back strong and took the last five wickets for just 31 runs, with recalled pace bowler Nuwan Pradeep, who was left out of the previous game against New Zealand, getting 4/31.
Sri Lanka has never won a game at the Cardiff Stadium in the six matches they have played there. Their sixth defeat came against New Zealand, earlier in this mega tournament.
Kusal Perera and Vishwa Fernando put up a record 78-run partnership for the final wicket to snatch the victory from South Africa.
