CHANDIMAL HAILS KARUNARATNE TON IN LOSING CAUSE
Sri Lanka may have lost the second Test and the threematch series to India by a huge margin, but Captain Dinesh Chandimal believes there are positives to be taken in how his team batted in the second innings, ahead of the final Test in Kandy. After an epic batting collapse which saw them carry a mammoth 439-run first innings deficit, Sri Lanka fought hard to score 386 in the second innings but were still 53 runs short of making the visitors bat a second time. “I am really pleased with the way we batted in the second innings. We need to pick up the positives and look forward to the next game,”chandimal said, heaping praise on opener Dimuth Karunaratne who scored 141. “It was a special innings that Dimuth played. As an opener we expect that kind of innings from him, so we’re very happy he played that innings on a very tough deck like this one. Of the innings that I’ve seen over the last three or four years, this innings was one of the best – both from our team and opposition. It was an excellent innings. He always goes to the crease looking to score runs. I think that must have helped him get these 140 runs,” Chandimal said. “We fought hard in our second innings. It was a fine effort by both Kusal Mendis and Dimuth. After yesterday (Saturday’s first innings batting collapse) we had some discussion and in those meetings we planned about how to go about things. I still feel that everyone fought very hard but we kept losing wickets.” Sri Lanka took a gamble playing just one fastbowler in Nuwan Pradeep to accommodate a third spinner, and the plan backfired when Pradeep was injured on the first day of the Test.
“… it’s really hard to play with one seamer. What we thought was that with these conditions, the only way we could have balanced this team was with one seamer only in the attack. That was the plan. Unfortunately he got injured and that became a big problem,” Chandimal said.
Chandimal also defended the decision to send batsman Dhananjaya de Silva at number nine.
“Before we batted in the second innings we put together a plan after a big discussion with everyone. Dilruwan (Perera) had consistently scored runs over recently.
Malinda Pushpakumara had also gone in as nightwatchman. We thought we will send Dilruwan ahead of Dhananjaya and work out how to get runs out of him. That was our plan,” Chandimal said.
Perera contributed just four runs, while de Silva struck four boundaries in a run-a-ball 17.
Indian captain Virat Kohli meanwhile, said he was pleased with his team’s performance in claiming this series, and hoped to create a winning habit amongst his team regardless of where they played.
“It’s obviously nice to win this series again. We won this last time also, in 2015. Yes, we do have that chance, but honestly speaking, we are not looking at Test matches or Test cricket now as home and away anymore.
We are just looking at Test matches as Test matches and we want to win anywhere that we play,” he said. “If we can believe enough in our abilities then we are not really bothered about where we are playing.
That kind of energy I can sense in the team, and the team believes that as well. You know, we have to only look to win Test matches. However, it may be, on whatever pitch or in whatever conditions. We are creating a habit of winning, that I think can be carried on in future as well.”