Sunday Sep 22, 2024
Sunday Sep 22, 2024
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New Zealand Captain Tim Southee takes a break during practice at the Galle Cricket Stadium
Two greats meet – Sri Lanka interim Head Coach Sanath Jayasuriya chats with New Zealand’s spin bowling Coach Rangana Herath
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
If Joe Root was the key wicket for Sri Lanka during the England series, it will be Kane Williamson in the two-match Test series against New Zealand which commences at the Galle International Cricket Stadium today.
As Sri Lanka found out in England, Root was the cornerstone around which the others batted, and he had a good record against Sri Lanka, averaging 62.54 with six centuries.
Likewise, Williamson’s record against Sri Lanka is also pretty impressive, averaging 78.17 with five centuries. He has held the New Zealand innings together on numerous occasions and his wicket will be the one that Sri Lanka will aim for as early as possible.
“Against every batsman we have plans. We look at all the batters of the opposition. We have been chatting about Williamson; what options seamers can have for him and what options spinners can have,” said Sri Lanka’s interim Head Coach Sanath Jayasuriya at the pre-match media conference.
“We know what our strengths are in our conditions. We will go according to our plan. Against England, we had some plans for Joe Root and we pulled it off. Hopefully, the bowlers will do it here too.”
“Against any opposition, Kane is a great guy to have in the side,” said New Zealand skipper Tim Southee. “He has been a tremendous performer. He has had a lot of success against Sri Lanka. His experience will be vital for us in this series.”
New Zealand’s last tour here in August 2019 didn’t prove so fruitful for Williamson. He averaged just 8 with a top score of 20. He was dismissed twice to spin and once to pace. It is an area which Sri Lanka might delve into.
Both teams will be looking to improve their percentage points in the ICC World Test Championship during the short series. New Zealand starts the series in third position with 50 percentage points and Sri Lanka in fifth place with 42.86 percentage points.
“Since the Test Championship came in, it has put a lot of context into every game,” said Southee. “We have had a break from Test cricket since the end of the home summer. Now we have got an important part of the scheme of things in the Test Championship cycle. We have eight games between now and December. Two games in Sri Lanka and three Tests in India and three more at home against England. It’s a very exciting time for us.”
On the other hand, Sri Lanka has six Tests left to try and finish in the top two of the standings to qualify for the final at Lord’s. Apart from the two against New Zealand, they have two in South Africa in December and two at home against Australia in January-February. From the looks of it, both sides will be keen to get off the blocks with a win as they have a lot of catching up to do against the current top two teams – India (68.52) and Australia (62.50).
Sri Lanka has not won a Test series against New Zealand since 2009, and it is something that they could work on and rectify in the series starting today. They have a terrible record, winning only twice and losing eight in their last 10 Tests. The win against England at the Oval should give them a tremendous boost, but this is a new series and a different opposition, so they have to start afresh. Sri Lanka won the final Test against England going with four seamers, but in Sri Lanka – on subcontinent pitches – that combination is never going to work with spin coming into play towards the latter part of the Test.
“We intend to make a few changes to the game. We have been planning and we will most probably go with two seamers and two spinners,” said Jayasuriya. “When you pick a team, it is tough. If you take someone like Milan Rathnayake, he bowled well and batted well in England. But here in Galle, you have to bring in the additional spinner. On his first tour, what he achieved was tremendous. He was very mature. We cannot, unfortunately, bring him into the playing eleven. We have two good quicks in Asitha Fernando and Lahiru Kumara. Milan is going out of the side not because he did badly, but because we need to play a different combination here. I had a personal chat and explained [that] to him.”
Prabath Jayasuriya and Ramesh Mendis will be the two main spinners, with skipper Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis as additional spin bowling options. Kusal Mendis gets the nod ahead of Sadeera Samarawickrama for the wicket-keeper’s berth.
New Zealand has never won a Test match at Galle. They have played four and lost them all. To help them overcome that lapse, they have roped in the game’s most successful left-arm Test spinner Rangana Herath as their spin bowling coach. Herath took 102 of his 433 Test wickets at this venue and knows its history like the back of his hand.
“A guy who has taken over 100 Test wickets in this ground – he is a Sri Lankan great,” said Southee. “He has been working closely with our spin bowlers. He has lots of ideas about these conditions. Great to have his presence in the changing room. With the series being played in Sri Lanka, it is important to have him. We have done that in the past as well, tapping into local knowledge. If you remember, we had Chaminda Vaas with us on a previous tour and then Thilan Samaraweera was part of the coaching staff on a recent tour.”
“Historically, in Galle, spinners have played a big part. We have guys in the top order as well who can offer a few spin bowling options. Apart from them, of course, we have four quality seam bowlers. We have got all bases covered. We just need to figure out what is the best combination we can have moving forward.”
Pathum Nissanka and Kamindu Mendis during practice
New Zealand’s spin bowling Coach Rangana Herath with batsman Kane Williamson
