da betcris： Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya was delighted after his sideconvincingly beat India by 10 wickets in the Galle Test
Rex Clementine17-Aug-2001Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya was delighted after his sideconvincingly beat India by 10 wickets in the Galle Test. After thematch,the Sri Lankan captain said, “It was very pleasing, as wehaven’t had a victory against India for 16 years.””We played our natural game and played hard right from the start. Webowled well, especially Dilhara (Fernando), who took the initiativeaway from India. Murali then cleaned up things for us,” remarkedJayasuriya.The southpaw from Matara feels that the burden on Muralitharan’sshoulders has been reduced,”It’s pleasing to note that there are a lotof upcoming fast bowlers in Sri Lanka now. We don’t have any fearsabout our future fast bowling reserves.”With the bowlers having done a decent job, it was then up to thebatsman to put the side on top. “Marvan (Atapattu) and I started welland then Kumar (Sangakkara), who had been in the best of form, playedbrilliantly to ensure that we had a lead of 175.”Coach Dav Whatmore admitted that the team enjoys playing in Galle.”When we win by ten wickets things have gone our way. But it’s not astrange phenomenona for us in this venue. This has been a happyhunting ground for us.”However, Whatmore sounded a note of caution. “This was just one game.We are in the beginning of reconstructing the team, so that we do notonly do well in home conditions, but will prosper away as well.”Before the match there was some debate as to who should keep wicket.Whatmore admitted that it was a tough job for Sangakkara, who alsobats at number three “It’s a physically demanding job and Kumar(Sangakkara) needs to be extremely fit. It is not an ideal situation,but he is willing to take on the challenge.”Jaysuriya defended the selection of Suresh Perera, who did not performwith the bat and failed to bowl in the second innings. “Suresh (Perera)is an exciting all rounder and we need to groom him for the future. Ithought he bowled well in the first innings and was only not used inthe second because the pitch suited the spinners more.”