Asanka Gurusinha, cricket manager of the Sri Lanka team said that the R Premadasa Stadium pitch flattened out after the initial session and that made it easy for the Zimbabwe batsmen to stage a recovery on the opening day of the one-off Test yesterday.
“The feedback I got from the players was that there was moisture in the morning, so the track did turn a bit, and the ball did a little bit. After lunch it settled down so much, and even now, when I spoke to them, they said the ball comes slow off the wicket, and doesn’t do anything. It’s more like an old Premadasa wicket,” said Gurusinha at the end of the day.
“That’s the reason they were 96 for 4 and then went on to get 344-8. That said, we did bowl some loose stuff. We were lucky to have Rangana (Herath) there, but even to him they had time to get on the back foot and pull him, because the ball wasn’t coming on at the pace we were expecting.
It is a bit disappointing to end up at 344 for 8 after taking the top four wickets cheaply. But this is Test cricket, and I’ve got to give credit to Craig Ervine. It was a really good knock and he batted well,” he said.
Gurusinha said the team’s first priority is to get the two remaining Zimbabwe wickets early today.
“If you look at overall we need to get those two last two wickets very early because we can bat the whole day then. It’s not just about hanging around. The batsmen will have to play their shots and play normal cricket. We have a really good batting lineup. I expect our guys to be there and bat session by session. The first thing is the half an hour to one hour to get those wickets,” said Gurusinha.
“The way the track is playing, I’m expecting our batsmen also to put their heads down and bat long. They got runs at the end. Especially the last session you saw there were no demons on the wicket. It was easy to play shots and even their no. 10 was batting well. That showed there was enough time to play the shots. I’m expecting our guys to do well. Only time will tell.”
Once again Sri Lanka had to bank on the experience and spin of Rangana Herath who finished as their top bowler with four wickets.
“He is close to 40 years, and you take him out, we are a bit thin. We’re hoping that with some of the A team cricket and everything that’s coming up, we can bring someone. There are good spinners, but they don’t have the experience of playing at the highest level,” said Gurusinha. “You come across good players, and it’s not easy. Test cricket is a different game. Patience is what you need, and that’s what Rangana’s got. He’s got patience backed with experience. Dilruwan (Perera) I don’t think he was his normal self, and that might be because he hasn’t played matches. I’m hoping by the second innings he will get that loop we’re used to seeing, and build that partnership.”
‘IT WAS QUITE HARD OUT THERE’ – ERVINE
Zimbabwe’s centurion Craig Ervine expressed his satisfaction to score his maiden international century away from home when he remained unbeaten on 151.
“It was definitely satisfying especially I’ve scored a few hundreds but they’ve all been at home. To get one away from home against Sri Lanka in a Test match means a lot to me,” said Ervine who showed resoluteness in overcoming not only the Lankan bowling but also the hot conditions.
“It was quite humid and you tend to lose quite a bit of weight if you bat a fair amount of time out there,” said Ervine “It’s quite hard to try and keep gloves and stuff dry because you do sweat quite a lot. It does take quite a bit out of the body. It was quite exhausting.”
Commenting on the surface Ervine said, “At the start the wicket was a little bit damp but once it dried out if was a nice wicket to bat on. We have gone at a good rate throughout the day but we may have given away a couple of wickets. But we have fought back quite nicely towards the end of the day. Hopefully tomorrow we can put on another 50-60 runs.”
Ervine who comes from a cricketing family said that he was extremely happy to have his younger brother Ryan Ervine watching the Test match.
“The whole family has had an huge influence on my career. My younger brother is over here to watch the Test from Australia and it means a lot to see that he is here to see it as well.”
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