With Sri Lanka on the verge of a famous Test match win at The Oval, the team’s fast bowling coach Aaqib Javed praised the fast bowling unit. Sri Lanka’s four men seam attack did well to bowl out England for 156 at The Oval in their second innings. Javed, the former Pakistan fast bowler, singled out Asitha Fernando.
“Asitha is a terrific bowler. He is improving in ICC rankings as well. He is now ranked at number eight. He has got all the potential. In another seven to eight years, if you look after him well, he could be the greatest Sri Lankan fast bowler. He has got pace and swing. Moves the ball both ways. He is a complete package.”
Asitha Fernando finished the series with 17 wickets Chris Woakes with 13 wickets is behind him. There is a good chance that the Sri Lankan could go on to finish the series as the leading wicket taker.
A lot was expected from Vishwa Fernando lead up to the series as he had a season of County Cricket with Yorkshire before the tour. The left-arm seamer struggled in the first Test and was dropped. He was not up to scratch in the first innings at The Oval as well, but in the second innings he was too good and accounted for the big wickets of Joe Root and Harry Brook with deliveries that swung in late and trapped both batters leg before wicket.
“He felt some stiffness in hamstring. As bowlers you don’t know how far you can push yourself. He came to the dressing room and went back and gave everything he had. He bowled some superb inswingers like the great Chaminda Vaas. Sometimes people go for safer options. But he went flat out. He gave everything,” Aaqib said.
While Vishwa finished with three wickets in the second innings, Lahiru Kumara was the pick of the bowlers calming four for 21 in a seven-over burst.
“He was outstanding and spot on. Moved the ball and bowled with pace. That’s true Lahiru Kumara. A fit Lahiru is a genuine match winner. He bowled really well.”
Sri Lanka’s tactics of bowling short at the England tail looked to be taking the game away from them, but they soon realized the mistake and altered the lengths after tea.
“Look, the way they bowled at Lord’s paid off. They started the same way here bowling short. But they realized that Oval has true bounce and easy to leave. They tried short balls and then they went back to bowling at good lengths.”
Chasing 219 to win, Sri Lanka are in the box seat having reached 94 for one. Pathum Nissanka (53) and Kusal Mendis (30) have add3ed 55 runs for the second wicket as Sri Lanka need another 125 with nine wickets in hand.
“They have been positive and it’s really a good sign. This is how you put England under pressure.”
“If you look at the whole series there were moments and our bowlers had already done reasonably well. This game we went for the extra seamer and that paid off. We have played good cricket overall. We wanted to do well away from home and the fast bowlers have stood out,” Aaqib went onto say.
With Jamie Smith posting a quick half-century, Sri Lanka were feeling the pressure, but the moment they dismissed him, they were back in the hunt.
“You need to be patient when someone is going after you. He had to go hard. Everyone was panicking. But the captain handled the situation well. There are moments like these in the game when someone comes hard at you. Those times you have to control emotions and keep going.
He also assured that Dinesh Chandimal, who had to leave the field having sprained his back is not out of the game and will bat at his customary position. “He is okay. The way he fell, he felt uneasy but he is good to bat.”
