India in Sri Lanka
CricInfo
Spot the Ball 5 Star Cricket Fantasy
 
firing squad StatsGuru
Cricshop

Jayasuriya: It was a good team effort
Rex Clementine - 15 August 2001

After Sri Lanka ended the second day in the first Test of the three Test series at the Galle International Stadium well on top, Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya declared it as a total team effort by his side. "It was a good overall team effort. I am happy that we managed to bowl them out for less than 200. It was crucial to get them out before too long," said Jayasuriya.

"After getting the cream of the Indian batting out yesterday, we wanted to just to finish them off under 200 and the bowlers did just that," remarked the Sri Lankan captain.

Dilhara Fernando made life difficult for the Indian batsmen by finishing with a five-wicket haul. Jayasuriya's side in the recent past has depended on Muralitharan a lot in the bowling department, but today Fernando rose to the occasion,

"It was a grassy wicket and conditions were ideal for a bowler like Dilhara. So he made use of the conditions and things went on really well for us," said Jayasuriya.

After the wonderful display in the field, the Sri Lankans had to bat well to end the day on top. Their batsmen did just that and Sri Lanka ended gaining considerable advantage, "After the good performance with the ball it was the responsibility of the batsmen to do well and I thought all of us batted well."

Jayasuriya himself ended the day with a century and, analyzing the Indian bowling, he said, "Srinath bowled well in his first spell. We knew we had to see him off in his initial burst and then when I was in the middle I got a lot of width from both sides of the wicket and I thought of making the most of the opportunities."

Harbhajan Singh picked up the first Sri Lankan wicket but failed to put the brakes on the Sri Lankan batsmen despite bowling a marathon spell of 27 overs. "He's a good bowler. You can't underestimate him. He's the type of bowler who can really turn the ball. More than him making any mistakes, I thought we handled him well," remarked Jayasuriya.

Though Sri Lanka ended the day in a good position, Sri Lankan coach, Dav Whatmore cautioned his players. "You haven't won a Test Match until you have really won it. What we are trying to do is to get a good advantage and then try and extend that advantage. It's a very tricky pitch and batting last on this track will be very difficult, so there's a lot to play for tomorrow."

© CricInfo


Teams India, Sri Lanka.
Players/Umpires Sanath Jayasuriya, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Javagal Srinath, Dav Whatmore, Harbhajan Singh.
Tours India in Sri Lanka
Grounds Galle International Stadium

Results & Scores
Sri Lanka won by an innings and 77 runs
India 234 & 299 (124.5 ov)
Sri Lanka 610/6d
[Scorecard]



Tour Index
Home
Schedule
News
Scorecards
Reports
Statistics
Photographs

Squads
India
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Board-XI

Features
Pru ICICI
Top Performer
5Star Parnerships
Action Replay
Caught & Bowled Over
Hercules Player
of the fortnight
Third Umpire
Did U Know...

CricInfo
Sri Lanka
India
Official Sites
Site Map
Cricinfo Home