Jayawardene showers praise on Herath

ELMO RODRIGOPULLE

‘When the game began on the third day, with New Zealand nine runs, ahead, I did not expect the New Zealanders to fold up like they did. It was the pressure that we put them under and with Herath proving unplayable that put us into a winning position’, said Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene fronting up to the media after the game.

Jayawardene spoke in glowing terms when asked about his match winning spinner Rangana Herath. ‘Rangana has continued to deliver every time he comes on to bowl and it is great to have him in the team. He is the best spinner going today’, said an elated captain. His figures of 11 for 108 speaks for itself.

This convincing victory inside three days is another feather in the captaincy cap of Jayawardene since being asked to come back after Tillekeratne Dilshan quit as captain.

Jayawardene was happy the way the team is playing. ‘Winning a game is all about team work’ and I am happy the way the team was going about winning matches. When asked about debutant Dimuth Karunaratne, he said that the youngster is highly talented and the way he batted in the second innings shows that he is a bright prospect.

Great batsmen have been dismissed without scoring on debut. Karunaratne has suffered that trauma. Jayawardene said that knowing the state that the youngster was in when he was out for no score, they did not want to console him. But allowed him to recover.

Karunaratne showed that the dismissal without scoring had not affected him, the manner in which he took apart the Kiwi bowlers in the second innings spraying them to all corners of the field with audacious strokes and with a vengeance.

Jayawardene also praised his other bowlers – Nuwan Kulasekera and Shamindra Eranga for using the new ball cleverly and spinner Suraj Randiv for bowling tight and putting the batsmen under pressure. When asked to comment on the wicket, both captains Ross Taylor and Mahela Jayawardene said that it was a good wicket which had movement and also spin and was ideal for cricket. Curator Jayananda Warnaweera who had come in for some uncharitable criticism for the wickets he prepares can certainly take a bow.