Jayasuriya delighted with emphatic victory

Sri Lanka skipper Sanath Jayasuriya praised his side after they exacted sweet revenge on the Kenyans for their shock defeat in the World Cup with an emphatic 129-run win on Sunday.

Sri Lanka needed to win to keep their Sharjah Cup hopes alive but, just as importantly, wanted to set the record straight after their Nairobi humiliation.

"We had a very bad day in the World Cup and the boys did really well today - we now need to win again tomorrow to get through to the final," said skipper Jayasuriya.

"Sanga (Sangakkara) did excellently with the bat, Prabath (Nissanka) and Buddhika (Fernando) did well with the new ball and Murali wrapped it up nicely," he added.

Marvan Atapattu, Sri Lanka's captain-in-waiting, was also delighted: "We needed this after the loss against these guys - I saw a different approach today."

Atapattu is expected to take over the leadership straight after the tournament after Jayasuriya confirmed on Sunday that he will be stepping down.

"I would be proud to be captain of my country but it is not in my hands," said Atapattu. "Whoever takes charge will have to work hard as this is a building phase for the team."

Kumar Sangakkara, man of the match after he completed back-to-back centuries, was glad that his hundred paved the way for victory.

"I am very happy to have scored the runs but even happier because we went on to win the game - it was a good team effort today," said Sangakkara.

"It is easier to score runs quickly after spending some time at the crease and that was my gameplan today," he added.

Steve Tikolo, the Kenyan captain, was disappointed, both by the team's loss and his own personal form.

"I thought we actually did well to restrict them to 256 but we lost early wickets and that set us back," he said. "I am not getting runs and that is disappointing but hopefully they will come soon."