Hard work and commitment key to my success, says Kulasekera

Chris Dhambarage

Fast bowler Nuwan Kulasekera attributed his success to sheer hard work and commitment after he had helped Sri Lanka skittle out the touring Pakistan team to their lowest total on the opening day of the second Test match which commenced at the P. Saravanamuttu Oval in Colombo yesterday.

The 27 year old seamer returned career best figures of four wickets for 21 runs on a good batting wicket as Pakistan were dismissed for just 90 runs in 36 overs after skipper Younis Khan had elected to bat first.

In fact this number of overs in the Pakistan’s innings is their third lowest for them in the first innings of a Test match. Kulasekera’s previous best effort of course came during the opening Test match against Pakistan at the Galle International Stadium where he captured four wickets for 71 runs from 24 overs.

This total in fact was Pakistan’s lowest against Sri Lanka and overall their seventh lowest in Test matches.

Kulasekera said that he bowled at the right areas and was able to move the ball quite regularly despite the little assistance from the wicket.

He said that he stuck to his basics and bowled a good line and length throughout the innings after been inspired by the success in Galle. Even then Kulasekera stated he was somewhat disappointed that he could not add a five wicket haul to his tally but yet he was pleased with the performance considering the conditions at the situation of the game.

He noted that he had produced an extra effort during the last couple of months and had worked specifically on the inswinger which has brought him the desired results in this match. Kulasekera believes that the wicket has now turned out to be a good one for the batsmen and will further improve during the next couple of days.