By Dhammika Ratnaweera
Brimming with confidence and rallied around a captain, who had shown the way with exemplary performances, Sri Lanka seemed well prepared for the second test against New Zealand which will be starting at P. Sara Stadium in Colombo. Sri Lanka lead the series one-nil after comprehensively beating the kiwis in Galle and currently lead the ICC Test Championship table with 60 points.
Wicket-keeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella, who made a strong comeback to regain his place in the team came in praise for their newfound captain stating that skipper Dimuth Karunarathna is different from the lot and he had made everyone feel free in the team. “Even when we make mistakes, our captain talks to us personally and explain them in a manner that we take more confidence to correct them and contribute towards a team effort.” said Niroshan Dickwella.Sri Lanka will make a few amends to the team as injured all-rounder Dilruwan Perera is ready for Thursday’s match and most probably he would replace Akila Dananjaya, who had been reported against for his bowling action by the ICC.
P. Sara Stadium, which is also called the Colombo Oval is expected to offer a grassy pitch which would favour the batsman, but a high scoring game would be on the cards. “We expect that there would be big innings on this pitch, although it is a bit grassy pitch. Even last year, in the match against Bangladesh, we had a high scoring game.” recalled Dickwella.
Dickwella stated that Galle win was a team effort when even our number one bowler Suranga Lakmal committed himself to score runs, which obliged to other batsmen to perform. “We had improved as a team even in the fielding department and that catch of Kane Williamson by Kusal Perera was a brilliant one that changed the match for us” said Dickwella.
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