http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 blames the Hambantota pitch for the 2nd ODI debacle – Part Two – Cricket News Update
Continued from the previous part…
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 last year, losing eight Test matches in a row.
This is not the first time that the Men in Blue have collapsed in the Island, having a miserable record at Dambulla (another Sri Lankan venue), where they have been dismissed for 103 and 88 in the past. Hambantota, Pallekele and Dambulla
usually offer assistance to the seam bowlers.
The cricketer from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Jharkhand-c800 expressed that the Hambantota pitch is different than Dambulla in nature. Dhoni feels that the ball was not coming on to the bat, hampering fluent stroke-play. The wicketkeeper however, admitted that the
Sri Lankan bowlers exploited the overhead conditions beautifully.
"I don't think it was very similar because what usually happens in Dambulla,” the Indian captain explained. "Over here the wicket was slightly different, it [the ball] was stopping before coming on. I don't think there was too much
swing for the bowlers, though there was a bit of breeze.”
On the other side of the coin, the home team’s captain and prolific middle-order batsman, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DPMD-Jayawardene-c1397, does not agree that the track was unplayable, instead, he blamed the Indian batsmen for their rash shots, which allowed
the Sri Lankan bowlers to run through their line-up.
The Colombo-born cricketer confessed that the pitch was on the slower side, which curtailed the batsmen’s progress, but he does not want to take credit away from his bowlers, who bowled out of their skins to help http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 level the
series.
"The wicket I don't think was that bad," Jayawardene believes. "Probably a touch slower, there were quite a few good balls as well. We bowled in good areas, created pressure, maybe couple of bad shots as well but I will take that
any day."
The Sri Lankan skipper’s argument is strengthened by the performance of his opening batsmen, who did not face any problem in chasing down the total on the same pitch, achieving the target within 20 overs after losing just one wicket.
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