Graeme http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758’s supremacy in 2nd Test – Cricket News Update
Being the first ever South African captain to lose a home Test to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/GC-Smith-c1473 confesses that his team was badly outplayed by the mighty visitors in the 2nd Test at Kingsmead, Durban.
Smith is all praise for Lankans’ adaptability to different playing conditions, claiming that the home side failed to read the surface.
Talking to the media today, he said “We were outplayed from the start. They adapted to the conditions and handled the surface a lot better than us - they outperformed us throughout the game."
Beating the Proteas with a huge margin of 208 runs, the Lankan http://www.senore.com/Cricket/M-Muralitharan-c1864.
Since the world-record holder spin king hanged his boots in 2010, the Islanders had not won a single 5-day game out of 15 they played until yesterday, but fortunately Rangana Herath’s 5-wicket haul suddenly ended their losing streak.
In the Durban Test, which finished in just four days, Sri Lanka scored 338 in their first innings and, in turn, bowled the opponents out for 168. The visitors were fierce in their second innings too, scoring 279 runs. The Proteas failed to chase down the
huge total and lost ignominiously.
Smith is of the view that this defeat should not be attributed to the lack of preparations and interest, asserting that his boys worked hard prior to the start of the 3-Test series.
He said, “The way we prepared was excellent, our training sessions were competitive and the guys really prepared well. We just didn't get it together and after you get bowled out for 168 [in the first innings], you're always going to play catch up from there."
The veteran captain hopes that his national selectors and the coach, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gary-Kirsten-c58527, will not take any hasty decisions to change the current squad after this failure, as they have framed out some long-term plans to perk Proteas’ cricket.
With the series levelled 1-1, the 3rd and final Test will start on January 3 at Cape Town.
Tags: