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By Sa'adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka's interim coach Duleep Mendis blamed the poor physical levels of his players for the sub standard catching which saw his team draw the first cricket Test against New Zealand at the Sara Stadium yesterday.

"The only reason I can think of for such a bad performance was that the fitness levels had gone down. Even before the Test match, Alex (Kountouri) told me that the fitness levels were down and the players couldn't concentrate for long hours. It is something we got to improve and we got to do it fast before the next Test match," said Mendis.

"Without any doubt it was the catching that let us down in this Test. We dropped so many catches that at one stage I was thinking what was really going wrong because we had been doing a lot of fielding and concentrating a lot on our batting and bowling, two departments that came right. But the catching was miserable," he said.

Kountouri who had been Sri Lanka's physio for the past eight years is leaving today and the Cricket Board has got a new physio from Australia who will be working with the team for the rest of the Test and one-day series, according to Mendis.

"Maybe things would have been a bit different if all the catches were taken but that is something you can't go back on. Once a game is over that is finished," said Mendis.

Sri Lanka spilled as many as eight catches in the New Zealand first innings and two more yesterday in the second innings when Matt Horne was missed by Sangakkara in the slips and Fleming a hard return catch to Dharmasena.

Mendis said it was a good track which even the spinners found difficult to turn other than Murttiah Muralitharan.

"We could have capitalised on the second innings had those catches been taken because the wicket took some turn on the final day," he said.

"We will spend the next few days concentrating hard on our physical fitness. That's the only way we can come back to the normal levels. If we can improve our fielding and take the half chances, I think we are in with a good chance in Kandy," Mendis said.

Sri Lanka captain Hashan Tillakaratne praised his batsmen for helping to draw the Test. "I am very impressed with the batters how they came out and stuck to their game plan and managed to save this Test match," said Tillakaratne.

"Apart from my innings the others batted around me and it really helped me to go on and get a big one. Everyone chipped in with big scores.

"I was also impressed with the bowlers, and the way they bowled on a placid batting track. It is just that we need to improve on our fielding and catching. We made a few mistakes in this Test and we want to rectify them and come back strongly in the second Test," said Tillakaratne. New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said: "You had two nervous teams that were not willing to take too many risks in the first match of a two-test series. The wicket wasn't offering a lot and it was pure attrition. The teams would have had to take risks to push forward".

"We had a nervous first day. We had to look hard at the spinners and that put us about a session behind. We all got a taste of Muralitharan and that is something that takes time to get used to. There was really value in having another crack against him this afternoon. There is still work to do in our techniques but we are all the better for playing him," he said.

"I have done a lot of work mentally on how I would play him. The advantage that I have got is height and reach. The preparation for playing him in the practice games played dividends. I am now confident in my technique. The other players have to work out what technique works best for them," Fleming said.

"We came over with a lot of young players and have gained experience in the match. It may have put to bed some of our demons against the wizard Murali. The players now know what they have to do to survive in the middle," he said.

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