Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews singled out his pace bowling attack and veteran batsman Mahela Jayawardene in what was a superb team effort as his side defeated Pakistan by nine wickets in Dubai.
After fast bowler Suranga Lakmal picked up all three remaining Pakistan wickets in the first session to finish with a career-best 4-78, Sri Lanka lost just the wicket of opener Kaushal Silva (58) as they chased down the target of 137.
Silva put on 124 runs for the opening wicket with Dimuth Karunaratne (62 not out), and he was followed by the experienced Kumar Sangakkara, who remained unbeaten on nine. The victory was Sri Lanka’s first in an away or neutral venue against Pakistan since 2004.
While agreeing with his counterpart that there wasn’t much for the bowlers in the wicket, the Sri Lankan captain said his pace bowlers were rewarded for sticking to basics.
“Apart from the first day, this was a regular Dubai wicket. The spinners weren’t that successful on this wicket, it became a bit slow, but still good for the batsmen, as usual.
“The pace bowlers actually set it up for us. Of course, the toss was crucial, but they needed to bowl in the right areas, and they did exactly that. To get them all out for 165 in the first innings, I thought was a terrific effort.”
Mathews, 26, refused to blame the Pakistan bowlers, instead saying the Sri Lankan batsmen fought hard and handled the conditions better. “It’s just that our batters batted brilliantly. They didn’t want to throw their wickets away and kept fighting through those little phases and put Pakistan bowlers under pressure.
“I think we handled them better and that’s probably the result that we got today after fighting,” he added. “That’s what cricket is about. You need to keep fighting. I thought we did exactly that in the first Test.
“We kept hanging in there and managed to draw the match. And this is a wonderful victory with the help of the whole team.
“The Pakistan team is a very good one. Against them, you have to play positive cricket because if you give them even a little opportunity, they will trample all over you. We played well throughout and won the difficult moments.”
Mathews was full of praise for man-of-the-match Jayawardene, who was under pressure to perform and scored a crucial century in the first innings despite having three stitches on his left hand for a split webbing.
“He made a huge impact and we all hope that he’ll get better and better. I am sure he’ll play the next match as well,” said Mathews.
Mahela said he was happy to contribute to the team cause and added: “Obviously, the hand dictated the way I batted and the match situation as well. Our bowlers did really well to limit the Pakistan batting. It’s good to play with this bunch of boys and we have one more Test to go so hope we do well in Sharjah as well.”
The third Test starts Thursday in Sharjah and the Sri Lankan captain is keen to retain the winning combination.
“Unless the pitch is very different, I don’t think we need to make any changes,” he said.
