“He’s fit and should play tomorrow,” Nawaz said on the eve of the match. “Didn’t want to risk him in the first game against medical advice but he should be ready here.”

Sri Lanka, however, haven’t had much time to brood over the beating they suffered against South Africa, hopping on a flight to Hyderabad within 12 hours of that defeat. Nawaz said the team must expect to be put under pressure once again, but hoped they will have better plans against Pakistan.

“It’s simple, we expect to face similar pitches,” he said. “They’re not going to change; it’s going to be batting-friendly mostly. We have to look at our execution and see how we could’ve pulled back another 50-60 runs. We have to keep the group positive, that is most important. It’s a long tournament, we’re going to be playing, traveling and doing other things for over a month. We just have to take the learnings from each game and move forward.”

Sri Lanka have Mahela Jayawardene on board as a consultant, to tap into his vast experience of having played and coached in India. One of his responsibilities is to speak to the younger players about handling big-tournament pressure, something he’s credited with having accomplished at Mumbai Indians in the IPL. And plenty of young Sri Lankan players have had to step up at short notice at this World Cup.

Wellalage had been eased into the set-up on the back of a stellar Asia Cup, where he left his imprint against India. But the Kolta flatbed was extremely different to the dry turner in Pallekele. While Wellalage will likely have the more experienced Theekshana for company against Pakistan, the team believes he is mature beyond his years.

“Dunith has had to face a lot of responsibility, where he’s been pushed up as the main bowler in the last couple of games. I think he reacted exceptionally well,” Nawaz said. “He has done well in the Asia Cup. Even on a batting-friendly track in Delhi, he bowled reasonably well. This is a game of learning; he’s moving forward, and we are happy with that.”

“When you’re chasing 429, there’s no confusion,” he said. “We needed to go hard, we just wanted two or three guys to go big, that’s the only thing we were looking at. We’re happy as a group about how we went about it. Throughout the tournament, the goal is to maintain the same tempo and play positive cricket and challenge every team we play.”

Though he was wicketless, Shanaka was Sri Lanka’s most economical bowler against South Africa, conceded 36 in six overs. He then scored 68 off 62 balls in the chase, and was the eighth wicket to fall in the 40th over.

“Oh yes, his form has been a worry for us,” Nawaz conceded. “He’s had a couple of injury scares as well, but as a group, we are pleased he has scored runs and his tennis elbow is getting better as well.”