A Good Eye Opener - Sanga

Chris Dhambarage reporting from Galle

Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara said that it was a good eye opener for the remainder of the series after his team was outplayed in the opening Test match at the Galle International Stadium yesterday.

Sangakkara said that his team will need to come out with an improved performance after they conceded over five hundred runs and also had the embarrassment of being forced to follow on.

The Sri Lankan captain believed that the batsmen did not perform to their potential and none of the top order players really went on to play a big innings. He was in the opinion that had one batsman scored a big hundred they would have ended up with a total of over 400.

Sangakkara however commended the efforts of opener Tharanga Paranavithana who unfortunately missed out a century while batting in the second innings. He said that the conditions during the first two days were excellent for batting and Chris Gayle did well to make the maximum.

Sangakkara believed that the conditions were good even during the third and fourth day but most of the batsmen threw their wickets away having made a good start. He said that they will have to look into other options in the second Test especially in the bowling department.

Meanwhile West Indies skipper Darren Sammy said that he was pleased in the manner the team performed where they were able to stay on top on all five days of the Test match.

The all rounder stated that they came in well prepared despite being short of match practice and grabbed the opportunity to dictate terms against their more fancied opponents.

“We came into the match well prepared, despite being short of practice. The opportunities we got, we made the best of it all and it showed in the way we performed. Good to see that we dictated the game throughout.

Sammy believed that it was opener Chris Gayle who set the tone for their dominance with a magnificent triple century which was followed by a tremendous spell of bowling from Shane Shillingford.

‘I must commend Chris Gayle for the way he set it up. The way Shane Shillingford came and bowled. I know the guy he loves to bowl and never drops the ball. That’s the kind of passion I wanted’. Sammy stated that there is still room for improvement and is looking forward to taking the momentum into the second Test as well.

‘This match has shown we can compete and we can put ourselves in winning positions. This is over, we now start a whole new Test and we need to keep moving as a team.”