Sri Lankan coach and captain assess another powerful performance

Charlie Austin

December 30, 2001

Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya praised the efforts of his bowlers on Saturday after their grueling and successful endeavors in the scorching heat at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo.

The hosts now look set to claim their six consecutive Test win on Monday after forcing a weak Zimbabwean side to follow on 402 runs in arrears.

`It was not an easy wicket to bowl on, as there is not much pace, bounce or turn," he said. "I thought Chaminda (Vaas), Nuwan (Zoysa) and Murali bowled especially well, keeping a disciplined line and length right the way through the day. It was a really hot day and they worked really hard."

Another formidable performance from the batsmen, who went on a run spree, scoring 586, was the product he claimed of newfound confidence in the team.

"We are the most confidant we have ever been at the moment," he said. "I am really happy with the performance of the batsman. I know it can't carry on forever, as every batsman goes through a bad patch, so we have to make up for that by making big hundreds whenever we do get set."

Coach Dav Whatmore was not surprised by the teams domination: "In a way we were expecting it - we are very confidant and playing good cricket.

He believes that a major reason for the teams recent success has been the recall of 35-year-old Hashan Tillakaratne, who scored 96 on day two, and introduction of off-spinning all-rounder Thilan Samaraweera, who notched up his second Test ton.

"The key to our good performances of late has been our number six and seven: Hashan and Thilan," he argued. "Both of them have given us consistent performances, turning 300 totals into 450 plus, which has allowed us to put pressure on the opposition.

"People might be wondering when Thilan's bubble (he averages 140.7 after six Tests) is going to but he just keeps on going, displaying great concentration and by simply placing a high price on his wicket.

"I honestly think his off-spin bowling will improve as well and in future I think we will see him play a greater part with the ball in Test match and one-day cricket in the future. We are sitting on a nice little investment with him."

He paid tribute, too, to wicket-keeper batsman Kumar Sangakkara, who scored his third Test hundred: "Kumar, in the longer game, has been a revelation of late, batting extremely well. He is doing a really tough job - keeping wicket and batting at number three - and I think he has steadily improved with the gloves."

Whatmore hopes they can wrap up a win on New Years Eve but does not think it will be easy on a docile pitch.

"This kind of wicket is very difficult to get rewards on, particularly for the pace bowlers. To do well with the ball you really have to have discipline with where you direct the ball and we did that in the first innings."

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Zimbabwe tour of Sri Lanka

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