Scoring quickly when batting and bowling tightly is the name of the game says De Silva

• We lost the game on the first day – Coach Trott

Sri Lanka’s new Test skipper Dhananjaya de Silva said that scoring quickly while batting and curtailing the run rate of the opposition when bowling was how Sri Lanka can win Test matches, after they had beaten Afghanistan by ten wickets in the one-off Test played at the SSC grounds on Monday.

 “All the countries play Test cricket the same way. When they bat, they increase their run rate and when they bowl, they try to keep the run rate of the opposition down, that is the basics,” said De Silva at the post-match press conference.

“When we travel to other countries what we have to concentrate on is how we get about doing that. The bowlers and batsmen will have to discuss a plan.”

When Afghanistan batted themselves into a strong position at 199-1 in the second innings, De Silva said, “Our basic plan was to keep the run rate down. We didn’t try to get a wicket every over. When we got a wicket, it came in clusters. In Test cricket the bowlers should be disciplined and be able to bowl without conceding runs.”

“When you do that and if you get one wicket, then you’ll get a few more as the new batsmen struggle a bit to get in. We had bowled 75 overs and they had scored 200 runs and our target was to bowl without conceding many runs until the new ball arrived. Once it came, we applied the same theory and we were able to get wickets and put them out of the game.”

Afghanistan Coach Jonathan Trott, the former England cricketer said his team lost the match on the first day of the Test when they were bowled out for 198.

“It was disappointing. We lost eight wickets for 88 runs and that’s where we lost the game. We were in a good position, but after that collapse we were behind all the time. Sri Lanka showed us how to bat. If you get big in the first innings and score 400 runs, then the Test match is set up. Credit to them. We held our own in the Test match and got back into the game, but Sri Lanka bounced back in the manner they bowled with the new ball.”

The positives that Afghanistan took from the defeat, Trott said, were, “The way Ibrahim (Zadran) batted was a big positive for us. The way Rahmat (Shah) played in both innings. A few other innings here and there but you can’t look past the fact that you lost eight wickets for 88 in the first innings and in the second innings you lost 70-odd for nine.”

Trott said that with more exposure to Test cricket Afghanistan can improve as they have done in the white ball format. 

“This is only our eighth Test match. This year Sri Lanka plays ten Test matches. Previous years they have played six and eight. They have played 24 in three years. We have played eight in seven years. The more cricket we get the better we can become.” – (ST)