Colombo, July 26: The pace at which Tillakaratne Dilshan was dismantling the Indian attack, a score of 400 was definitely within the realms of possibility on the opening day of the second Test here on Monday. The opener, who does not usually change his methods for the longer version, was at his regal best before poor execution did him in.
“The wicket is great and I regret getting out. Only when I returned to the dressing room did I realise I had missed out on a big score, I don’t want to change the way I bat in Tests. I have scored 11 hundreds this way and in my seven matches as opener I have averaged 63. Things are working well this way,” said Dilshan at the SSC.
The first wicket did India a huge favour. It had looked like a long day in the field and the bowlers could not have done much better on this surface.
“The wicket is easy paced and a score in excess of 550 can put a lot of pressure on them. Traditionally the second day is good for batting. The spinners can make a mark on Day Three and Four. Dammika Prasad and Dhilara Fernando have the extra pace to unsettle the batsmen,” explained Dilshan.
India’s defensive line and strong off-side field restricted the hosts to 80 runs in the final session. “They were bowling to one side of the wicket and set the field that way. But 312 is a good score at end of the first day. Mahela (Jayawardene) and Kumar Sangakkara are batting well. We are confident of posting a good score.”
Tharanga Paranavitana’s century almost went unnoticed, but Dilshan paid tribute to his partner: “He’s a good player who has done well in the domestic tournaments. He struggled to get his first hundred and has two in a row now. Our combination is working well.”
Dilshan was confident of the new bowling combination getting the job done. “We wanted to give Welagedera a rest. The two fast bowlers have experience in these conditions. Suraj Randiv is a confident bowler and we all know what Ajantha Mendis is capable of,” he added.