By Brian Thomas
Sri Lanka will be comfortable to a great extent when they take on the protease in the second test at St George’s Park since the bounce on the surface will be much lower than Kingsmead that rattled the Sri Lankans in the first which they not only lost by 233 runs , but recorded their lowest score of 43 in their history in playing Cricket , but also have slipped down to 5th position in the ICC Test ranking from position number 3.
The loss at Kingsmead Durban was mainly due to the Sri Lankan batters having a dismal display with the willow , guilty of poking at 4th stump deliveries, lack of skill level to negate the extra bounce and the tentative approach when addressing angle deliveries. Whilst giving credit to the seam cordon of the home team , Sri Lanka did show imminent signs of recovery in their second essay when the pitch got easier to bat on with the ball coming onto the bat with predictable bounce.
Kamindu Mendis must adopt to conditions quickly because he is Sri Lanka’s main stay in the middle order , hence, his vulnerability of throwing his bat at the fourth stump pitched up deliveries must be avoided and not leave the South African seamers to exploit his weakness.
The conditions at St George’s will help Sri Lanka since it’s more a subcontinent type of wicket in which the spinners can come into the equation.
Keshav Mahraj took 7 wickets against Bangladesh on the 4th day at this venue , as the tigers were set humongous, target of 492 runs, and Bangladesh was bowled out for 80 runs in their second innings.
The message is clear to Prabath Jayasuriya. I guess he must be excited and will have an optimistic mindset if he looks at his prospect on the conditions he will bowl on.
Pathum Nissanka seems in a white ball frame of mind, which he must address and adjust his approach to that of the prerequisite of red ball Cricket. I am sure the batting coach would have given him extra throw downs during the short break.
Dimuth Karunaratne is down in confidence, but he has the experience to roll his failure down the sea and look at batting at St George’s pitch, which will aid his style of play.
Chabdimal and DDS showed all of us what they are capable of in the second Test. Kusal Mendis and Mathews have to step up by avoiding the temptations offered, especially in the full length, deliveries.
In South Africa, batting on the first two days is challenging, but things ease out on days three , four, and five to a great extent. ” Respice Finem ” must be the motto.
In subcontinent conditions, bowlers deliver back of a length deliveries whilst in South Africa seamers tend to bowl fuller length . I an sure the Sri Lankan seam cordon must have realised the way forward in South Africa.
South Africa will come all guns blazing, knowing that a win in the second game is a positive gateway for their road to the WTC finals.
They have a home series coming up against Pakistan. If they can dump the low in confidence, Sri Lanka, in this game, white wash Pakistan who are struggling in red ball Cricket, they are assured of a summer of 2025 ar Lords in England playing in WTC finals.
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