Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews is hoping for a major contribution from his side’s two veterans – Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene – and go a step better than their battling draw in Abu Dhabi when the second Test starts in Dubai today.
Sri Lanka drew the T20 series 1-1 before losing the five-match ODI series 3-2. In the first Test in Abu Dhabi, they looked in trouble after conceding a first-inning lead of 179, but then batted impressively to turn the tables on the ‘hosts’.
Mathews himself was the star with the bat, top-scoring in both innings with 91 and an unbeaten 157. And while Sangakkara made a solid 55 in the second innings, Mahela was a big disappointment with scores of 5 and 0. He had earlier opted out of the ODI and T20 series for personal reasons.
Sangakkara had scored heavily against Pakistan when the two teams had met in the UAE the last time. When asked if he thought Pakistan bowlers had sorted him out, Mathews said: “We all know that Sanga is a class act and that he can score runs against any attack.
“I am glad he was among runs in the first Test. I am confident we will see a big innings from him here.”
On Mahela’s form, he added: “For me, and for the team, it is not a concern at all. Mahela adds a lot of value to our batting line-up and he is such an experienced campaigner. He knows about how handle the situation and I am pretty sure he will bounce back soon.”
But the Sri Lanka captain was full of praise for his wicketkeeper-batsman Prasanna Jayawardene.
“He really is a very useful weapon for us,” said Mathews. “With the gloves in his hands, he is the best wicketkeeper that we have at the moment. And he is very stable as a batsman. He has got good technique to survive against the fast bowlers and he likes to sweep against the spinners, which upsets their line and length.”
After his team’s scheduled practice session was cancelled because of the unexpected heavy showers that hit Dubai yesterday, Mathews said they had not thought about the team composition as they were yet to assess the pitch.
“We really don’t know the exact weather forecast for the next five days and when we saw the pitch yesterday, we could not come to a conclusion as to how the pitch is going to play. There was a bit of grass on it, and there was some dry grass as well,” said Mathews.
“We need to have a real good look at the wicket tomorrow morning and then decide on our strategies and team combination.
“Of course, Pakistan has played here very well and we did not the last time (Sri Lanka lost by nine wickets in October 2011). But we have got to make sure that we come back strong,” he added.
