Sri Lankan skipper not surprised by West
Indies’ emphatic display at Galle Test
Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara has expressed his contentment over his team’s performance in the recently concluded Galle Test. He also praised the visitors for their forceful display but at the same time said that he wasn't surprised by the way West
Indies dominated the proceedings in the drawn first Test.
West Indies gave a phenomenal performance in which Chris Gayle scored his second triple-century to post a mammoth 580 first innings total. Sri Lanka needed help from the weather to barely save the Test. Nevertheless, Sangakkara criticised his team’s bowling
and labelled it as the main difference between the two teams. He said, “We were pretty wary about what they could do. The only thing was our attitude probably in the first two sessions which was a bit wanting. The first six overs were probably okay. But after
that I thought the lines and the lengths we bowled on this track were not good enough for us to put any pressure on them.”
Sri Lankan captain admitted that the first Test was an eye-opener for the hosts and it also exhibited West Indies’ credentials especially in the bowling department. Sangakkara was also disappointed with his team’s batting performance which saw no single
batsman reaching the triple figures. Sri Lanka hardly managed to score beyond 300 on a pitch which was considered a batting heaven. Four Sri Lankan batsmen reached half-centuries but none of them was able to convert it into a big score.
Commenting on it, Sangakkara said, “If one batsman can get a hundred, usually a side ends up making 400. Those are the par scores for Test cricket on these tracks and unfortunately, we fell about 100 runs short on our first innings at least. The first two
days were the best days for batting and West Indies took maximum advantage of that.” The saviour for Sri Lanka was the opener Tharanga Paranavitana who made a solid 95 in the opening session which enabled hosts to save the match.
On the other hand, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760’ new captain Darren Sammy was more than happy from his team’s performance in his first Test as national side’s skipper. He praised his team for the manner in which they dominated the hosts in all departments. Sammy, who replaced
Gayle as West Indies’ captain, said, “We couldn't dictate the next step, but I know this result will give our guys confidence ahead of the next Test. We came here with a winning mindset. We did everything that we were supposed to do in this Test match. We
had a good chance of winning by putting some pressure on them." He also praised his bowling unit for its persistent display in which it successfully stopped the hosts from building big partnerships.
Yet he pinpointed certain areas which he believes need improvement. He also negated the notion that he needed two spinners on a slow wicket like Galle. Commenting on it, Sammy stated, “Shane is really a workhorse. When he gets the ball he doesn't want to
put it down. A guy with an attitude like that augers well for the future. We also have Benn available for us in the next Test. All in all, we have plenty of positives. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Benn-c47745 obviously he has been our best bowler in Test cricket in the last year.” Benn missed
the match due to a one-match ban. Sammy is happy that his squad has two quality spinners to counter a team which is known for their spin-bowling.
Sammy is optimistic about his team’s chances in the ongoing series and believes that his team has the potential to beat a top-class team like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 on their home soil. Sammy's squad will face Sri Lanka again on November 23 in Colombo for the second Test.
And he will be hoping for another robust performance which will enable him to notch his 1st Test victory as a captain.
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