Archives

By Sa'adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka cricket coach Dav Whatmore said there were sterner tests ahead of his team in the next 12 months after they had won the LG Abans trophy triangular one-day final beating the West Indies by 34 runs on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka's one-day triumph over West Indies follows their 3-0 whitewash of the same opposition in the Test series.

But while everyone appreciates the victories, one must not also go overboard with it knowing that the opposition we have overcome were not the best they could offer. The victories should be reviewed in perspective.

In the past six months Sri Lanka have been involved in three one-day triangular tournaments and won two and lost one.

The two they've won were at home defeating India in the Coca Cola final in August and now the West Indies in the LG Abans final. Sandwiched between the two was a loss to Pakistan in the Khaleej Times trophy triangular final at Sharjah. Whereas Pakistan were at full strength, India and West Indies were without their prime batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, both out through injuries. There's no denying that Sri Lanka can only play the side the opposition puts up with, so the victories achieved cannot be undermined.

Whatmore said the form displayed by the players suggest that they were getting into good habits which he has often been trying to drill into them.

"I am very pleased at the way the team has performed over the past six months. It is an indication that we are on the right track," said Whatmore.

He said the final was similar to that Sri Lanka played against South Africa in the Singer Triangular Series last year where in the final South Africa got off to a head start with Kirsten and Hall putting on 91 for the first wicket and then the team losing by a margin of 30 runs to Sri Lanka.

On Wednesday, openers Daren Ganga and Chris Gayle added 111 for the first wicket, but West Indies fell short by 34 runs to top their winning score.

"We knew that we only needed one wicket to fall because the incoming batsmen were going to find getting runs on the pitch rather difficult," said Whatmore.

"We were always confident the target we set was sufficient to get them out.

The pitch was more or less two paced and shot making was difficult. Not many batsmen drove the ball," he said.

Whatmore said the Sri Lanka fielding and catching in the outfield was outstanding, but added the throw-in to the wicket was off the mark.

Sri Lanka have time off till December 27 before they commence a three-Test series against Zimbabwe at the SSC. 

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager