da aviator aposta： Mahela Jayawardene had no excuses after a shoddy performance with both batand ball that cost Sri Lanka the chance to win a bilateral series in Indiafor the first time.
da jogodeouro： Dileep Premachandran in Visakhapatnam17-Feb-2007
‘It’s brilliant to see the way he batted, and itgives us confidence for the World Cup’ © AFP
Mahela Jayawardene had no excuses after a shoddy performance with both batand ball that cost Sri Lanka the chance to win a bilateral series in Indiafor the first time. With the exception of Chamara Silva, no other batsmancrossed 28, and the Indians overhauled the 260-run target with ridiculousease as the shadows started to spread across the lush green outfield.Having taken a 1-0 lead in the series after a tense win at Rajkot, SriLanka batted poorly both at Goa and Visakhapatnam to hand India victory.”A lot of things went wrong, not just one,” said Jayawardene, when askedto assess a performance that he’ll hope has little bearing on the WorldCup encounter between the two sides on March 23. “Losing a lot of wicketsearly on was one of them. We knew the pitch was very good, and we probablyneeded 275 or 280 or even more. We knew there would be a little bit ofmovement early on, but we survived that. Then we lost wickets.”Having slumped to 56 for 4, Sri Lanka recovered to post 259 thanks largelyto the efforts of one man. “The only bright spot from the whole match wasChamara Silva,” said Jayawardene. “I thought he batted really well, with acouple of other guys chipping in.”Silva made a superb run-a-ball 107 in his first outing of the series,showing the sort of form that inspired Sri Lanka to a famous Test win atWellington last December. When asked if there had been a temptation toplay him earlier in the series, Jayawardene said: “Obviously, we wanted toplay him in at least two games. But unfortunately, the first game waswashed out, and our middle order couldn’t get a bat. We tried to givethose guys a couple of games, and also make sure that every top-order guygot a hit. We always knew the talent that he possesses, and the way hebatted in New Zealand. It’s brilliant to see the way he batted, and itgives us confidence for the World Cup.”Having put a competitive total on the board, Sri Lanka then let the gameslip with some woeful new-ball bowling. Farveez Maharoof started the rotwith a 10-ball first over, and though both Lasith Malinga and DilharaFernando were immensely quick, the radar was never switched on. “Onceagain, we didn’t start well with the new ball,” said Jayawardene.”Defending a total like 260 on a pitch like that, it’s crucial that we getearly wickets with the new ball, which we didn’t do. We bowled both sidesof the wicket, and too many wides and no-balls. We had no momentum fromthat point onwards. We played some poor cricket today, and India playedsome really good cricket.”If you have to control the Indian batting line-up, you have to do wellwith the new ball. You have to hit the right areas, which we didn’t. Ifyou take the whole series, we weren’t very consistent with the new ball.We gave away momentum and were always fighting to get back into the game.” f you have to control the Indian batting line-up, you have to do well with the new ball. You have to hit the right areas, which we didn’t. If you take the whole series, we weren’t very consistent with the new ball He himself was as culpable as any on the batting front, with an awfulheave that extended a fallow run without a 50 to 17 games. Consideringthat he had two centuries while averaging over 53 in the 16 games prior tothat, Jayawardene’s form is one of the team’s prime concerns heading tothe Caribbean. “Personally, I’m very disappointed with the way I’ve beenbatting the last couple of months,” he said. “I want to contribute to theteam, and I haven’t been able to do that. I’ve been hitting the ballpretty well in practice, but not spending time out in the middle.”It can’t be overlooked that Sri Lanka played this series without their twomost experienced bowlers, but for Jayawardene, that was no excuse. “Thelast time we came here, Vaasy played a few games, and so did Murali,” hesaid, referring to the series in 2005 when Sri Lanka were thumped 6-1. “Wealways knew it would be a tough task on Indian pitches. But these guyswill learn by playing on different surfaces. They didn’t bowl that well,but will learn from the experience. It’s good that the full squad isgetting prepared for the World Cup, and not just a few guys.”Though he was clearly disappointed with another poor top-order show,Jayawardene was pretty impressed by the manner in which India’s bowlersacquitted themselves on surfaces that were largely batsmen-friendly.”Throughout the tournament, the Indian bowlers did well with the newball,” he said. “To be fair to our guys, I thought they [the Indians] gotthe better of the conditions. The wickets had some moisture and were moreconducive [in the morning], but you can’t take credit away from them.”Our batting also contributed [to the defeat]. We played some really looseshots today and threw a couple of wickets away in tight situations. We hada poor game, you have to put your hand up and take responsibility forthat.”By contrast, India’s batsmen breezed past the target in just 41 overs,with Yuvraj Singh’s fabulous unbeaten 95 and Robin Uthappa’s breezy35-ball 52 providing most of the impetus. “Robin had the advantage ofbatting in the Power Plays,” said Jayawardene when asked to assess the twoknocks. “Yuvi had to play the spinners with the field out. We were tryingto attack and take wickets, and they had the opportunity to score freely.Both batted really well in different situations.”Unless Bangladesh play out of their skins in the Caribbean, these twosides will be tussling for top spot in their World Cup group. “It’s agreat combination with a lot of experience, and they’ll be toughopposition,” said Jayawardene, when asked about the Indians. “Obviously,playing in India, they cherish the atmosphere and you could see thattoday. But come the World Cup, it’ll be a different atmospherealtogether.”With a formidable Australian side suffering an almighty injury-hit wobblein the lead-up to D-day, both India and Sri Lanka, strengthened by theaddition of Vaas and Murali, will journey to the Caribbean with more thana smidgen of hope in the hearts. And on foreign fields halfway across theglobe, both will need to replicate the form that they habitually show onthe green, green grass of home.
