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On a day of attritional Test cricket at the SSC, Sri Lanka’s gamble in playing only one front line spinner was shown as being a mistake, as on the flattest wicket of the three match series, the four pronged pace attack, was made to look mediocre as the Pakistanis finally grafted out a score that has put them in a match winning position.
"We lacked a bit of variety out there, a second spinner definitely would have been useful today. I thought the bowling attack looked a bit one dimensional and on a wicket as flat as this the more options you have the harder it is for the opposition," said Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss.
More than the lack of variety in the bowling attack Sri Lanka’s failure to build an imposing first innings total lay at the heart of their problems, for it was only a matter of time before a batting side as talented as Pakistan got their act together and punished the flimsiness of the normally reliable Sri Lanka batting line up.
"The boys were really upset with the way they batted yesterday. They have not become bad batsmen overnight and if you look at our batting record over the last couple of years; it is as good as anyone’s. To me the players are not out of form, they are just not putting together big scores. I have total faith in them though and even though the wicket will turn more as the game goes on, there is no reason why we can not chase down a big total.," said Bayliss.
Bayliss was happy though with the team’s persistence on what was a grueling day in the field and was pleased to announce that the battle scarred Tilakaratne Dilshan would bat if necessary in the second innings.
After a succession of calamitous collapses, the Pakistanis must have feared the worse when they went four down for only 67 runs. However vice- captain Misbah-Ul-Haq and former captain Shoaib Malik put there heads down and showed the application and restraint in shot selection that has been lacking all series.
Shoaib who has fond memories of the ground after his match saving 148 last time round, made another century and was keen to share the credit with his vice captain.
"Misbah has been out of form, but the way he applied himself was an inspiration to me and showed me that crease occupation was the order of the day, with so much time left in the match. The pitch was seaming around less than the previous Tests and I am glad to have finally cashed in and got a big total, after getting a couple of starts in the series. The wicket was starting to turn more as the day went on and we are confident that with two spinners in our team, we can push for victory," said Shoaib.
