Shanaka chipped in with a quickfire 19-ball 42 with the bat and then returned to take 5 for 43 with the ball to complete a memorable ODI debut performance. His captain was evidently pleased as he hailed the all-rounder's outstanding show.
"Dasun had a dream debut and we are all happy for him and hopefully, he will continue in the next few matches," Mathews said. "It's nice to get the momentum on your side. We have not done well in England and we have lost the Test series, but we have now won in similar conditions and can look forward to the one-day series (against England) coming up," he added.
The island nation has had a tough tour so far, blanked 2-0 in the Tests against England although they did show some encouraging return to form in the rain-hit third and final Test at Lord's. Asked to bat first in cloudy conditions at Malahide, the batsmen fired on all cylinders as the visitors finished with 303 for 7, an effort which impressed their captain.
"It was a challenge for the batsmen but they put up a good effort," he said about their batting, which included a hundred from Dinesh Chandimal - his second of the tour. "In these conditions, you have to rotate the strike and build partnerships so you can set it up for the middle-order batters. I thought we got a brilliant start and the debutant, Kusal Mendis, batted brilliantly to score 51 and Chandimal has been batting brilliantly throughout. Shanaka then scored 42 off just 19 balls and finished the job for us," Mathews said.
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