We have been down this road before – one nil up with two Test matchesto play after an emphatic victory in Galle
Dav Whatmore20-Aug-2001Dav Whatmore
National CoachWe have been down this road before – one nil up with two Test matchesto play after an emphatic victory in Galle. Against South Africa lastyear and England in March, however, our form dipped in Kandy and wefailed to capitalise on series winning opportunities. This time wehave to be more ruthless.Quite simply, we have waited too long – it’s been 16 years sinceDuleep Mendis’ side won a Test series against India. We have to followthe lead of the single-minded Australians: be extremely positive andgo for the jugular.We are well aware of what happened against England and South Africa.However, to make sure it doesn’t happen again, we will not be focusingon those results but on the processes that will lead towards successthis time round. If the players concentrate on their specific rolesand responsibilities, then the right result should follow.The 10-wicket win in Galle was very pleasing because, right from theoutset, we were positive, both in terms of the pitch surface, whichhad a generous covering of grass, and in the unprecedented selectionof four fast bowlers.The pitch itself was actually quite dry underneath and, although therewas some extra grass and a little more bounce, it was fairly sluggishin pace. Nevertheless, though we could have batted first, it was anatural decision to bowl first.The bowling itself on the first day was pretty good. On occasions wemay have bowled a little wide of off stump, but we made them strugglefor runs. At lunch they had only scored 16 from 20 overs and at teathey had crawled to 95 for one from 56 overs. This low scoringreflected the good line and length that we bowled.India’s slow progress was crucial because, although we may not havebeen taking as many wickets as we would have liked, we always knewthat a couple of breakthroughs would put them under tremendouspressure. In fact, that’s exactly what happened in the final session,when we nipped out four wickets to end the first day well placed.The second new ball was crucial and the bowling of Dilhara Fernandowas exceptional. In a short space of time he has emphatically provedhis potential. He has tightened his line without compromising on paceand is always going to be dangerous when he gets the ball in the rightareas.There is no doubt that his two wickets at the end of the first daywere crucial and allowed us to spring into action on day two. Then, toget the prize wicket of Sourav Ganguly early on, with an absolutebrute of a delivery, was a real bonus that paved the way for usdismissing them for 187, a total which we were confident ofoverhauling.The batting was a tale of two halves. Runs flowed right from thestart, as the Indian bowlers didn’t help themselves by bowling twosides of the wicket. Crucially, Sanath Jayasuriya capitalised on thatand made them pay dearly.After the dismissal of Sanath the Indian bowlers started to bowlbetter and that made life harder for Kumar Sangakkara. He played andmissed a few times at the start, but he worked really hard and graftedfor his runs, clearly showing that he not only has the talent but alsothe temperament. It’s a good sign when you see a player competing whenhe is not in the best of form and that’s exactly what Kumar did.Having built up a useful lead of 175, we were naturally confident, butalso aware that India had comeback from an even worse situationagainst Australia and had gone on to win.Murali though came into the game more that evening. During the firstinnings he played second fiddle, but in their second dig he used theconditions superbly and was a real handful. Wickets started to fall -seven in fact during the last session, as the pressure snowballed.When you build up such a strong momentum, it is very difficult to stopand I thought we were unlucky to wrap the game up that evening.Kandy should also offer help to the fast bowlers. The Asgiriya squareholds together well and there is some bounce. We will, however, haveto have a good look at the wicket before we decide on the final side.Whatever that is though the key will be carrying on from where we leftoff in Galle by playing positive cricket.