Malinga's reverse swing did the trick for us: Sangakkara

Skipper Kumara Sangakkara couldn't thank Lasith Malinga enough after the slinger brought Sri Lanka's World Cup campaign back on track with a solid bowling performance in their Group A match against Kenya in Colombo on Tuesday.

Malinga, who missed the side's first two games due to fitness issues, took six wickets including a hat-trick to help the Islanders register an easy nine-wicket win at the Premadasa Stadium, and Sangakkara was as pleased as punch with his pace spear-head's effort.

"Lasith, the champion that he is, bowled reverse swing and that did the trick for us. He did a great job for us," Sangakkara said.

The skipper was relieved to have scored an easy win, especially after the defeat to Pakistan last Saturday.

"It's important the way we came back after Saturday's match. It was a close game and unfortunately we lost. But today's performance showed we are still a good side. We are strong mentally and came out well to finish the game," he said.

Asked about the all-important match against Australia on Saturday, Sangakkara said, "It is going to be a big game for us. Hopefully, we can keep improving and beat Australia," he said.

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Kenya skipper Jimmy Kamande felt the side's batting fell apart after the 35th over.

"We were looking to score in the region of 230. Sometimes we were in good positions, we were batting well till the 35th over but after that Sri Lanka bowled brilliantly," Kamande said.

As for Malinga, he said, "We haven't played Malinga, but we know him. He is a world class player."

Man of the Match, Malinga said whenever he had the ball in his hand, he would be told to get a wicket by Sangakkara.