DUNEDIN // Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said it is time to stop talking of former batting greats Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara after a 122-run defeat in the first Test against New Zealand.
Since Jayawardene stepped down from Test cricket in 2014 and Sangakkara followed him into retirement earlier this year, the Sri Lankans have struggled.
On Monday, they lost the opening Test against New Zealand after winning the toss and bowling first on a green wicket.
It was a harsh lesson for the new-look line-up with Kithuruwan Vithanage playing his ninth Test, and Udara Jayasundera, Milinda Siriwardana, Kusal Mendis and Dushmantha Chameera having only nine Tests between them.
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Jayawardene retired after 149 Tests in which he averaged 49.84 with the bat, and the mercurial Sangakkara retired after scoring 12,400 runs at 57.40 in 134 Tests.
Mathews said that was a lot of experience to lose but that the new brigade will develop into a quality side.
“They showed a lot of guts, they didn’t want to give up even though one played his debut and others were playing their second or third game,” he said. “The quality is there in the dressing room. It’s just the mindset that needs to shift around.
“We’ve always talked about not having Sangakkara and Mahela in the team. It’s history and we’ve just to move on with it, take responsibility and try and score runs.”
Both Mathews and his New Zealand counterpart Brendon McCullum agreed Sri Lanka had the upper hand when they won the toss and bowled first on a wicket ripe for seamers.
Mathews lamented that his bowlers were unable to make the most of the favourable conditions. “After winning the toss on a green wicket, I expected a lot more from the bowlers,” he said.
“We bowled a lot of loose stuff. We lost our way in the first couple of sessions and we let them off the hook. We were also way too cautious in our first innings batting.”
In reply to New Zealand’s first innings of 431, Sri Lanka were all out for 294.
New Zealand declared their second innings at 267 for three and Sri Lanka found the 405-run target too much as they folded for 282.
“As a batting unit, we need to score runs to give our bowlers a chance. Scoring 290-300 is not enough on these tracks,” Mathews said. “Once the seam movement goes off in the first couple of sessions it gets really good for batting.”
Mathews said he envisaged improvement, but it would take time. “It’s not easy for a batter to straight away come in and start performing,” he said. “It’s just a matter of time, hopefully they’ll learn pretty quickly.”
Brendon McCullum puts team ahead of record
DUNEDIN // New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum said he put his team ahead of his own ambitions to claim the world record for Test sixes during the first Test against Sri Lanka in Dunedin.
He declared his side’s second innings once their lead had passed 400 rather than attempting to claim outright the record for Test sixes after equalling the mark of 100 by Australia’s Adam Gilchrist.
New Zealand set Sri Lanka a 405-run target and comfortably won the Test by 122 runs yesterday when the tourists were dismissed in their second innings for 282. McCullum smacked the ball over the rope twice during his whirlwind 17 not out in six deliveries.
He knew one more would take him past Gilchrist but had made a promise to his team to declare.
The captain said he had agreed a lead of 400 “with the boys, so it would have looked pretty selfish if I’d stayed out there for one more crack at it”.
He added: “It’s the only record I actually care about. It’s the only record that Kane [Williamson] or Ross [Taylor] aren’t going to break as well, so I should be able to hold on to that one. I’ve been aware of it for a while, as you can probably tell by the way I’ve batted all through my career.”
McCullum will get the chance to move ahead of Gilchrist in the three remaining home Tests for New Zealand this summer against Sri Lanka and Australia.
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