Rex Clementine in Johannesburg
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews faulted his batsmen after the third and final Test against South Africa here in Johannesburg ended inside three days with a crushing defeat to the tourists by an innings and 118 runs.
Sri Lanka were whitewashed 3-0, their second worst series defeat with the worst being the 3-0 defeat they suffered in India where they lost all three games by an innings. On Saturday, the third day of the game in front of a packed house, Sri Lanka resumed with the overnight score on 80 for four and were bowled out before lunch for 131 with not a single batsman scoring a half-century.
South Africa enforced the follow on and there was further trouble as the tourists were shaken up by the Proteas’ formidable pace attack. They were shot out for 177 with still 30 overs left in day’s play.
“Our preparation before the series was good. We tried to leave a bit of grass back in Sri Lanka and trained on those wickets. We trained like that for six to eight weeks before the tour. Our preparation was not bad, but unfortunately we were not good enough in this series,” Mathews reflected.
“The commitment is there in the batsmen, but the application and concentration perhaps was lacking. We knew against a bowling attack like this we had to concentrate for long hours. They hardly give you loose balls and always land on the spot. We had to be positive and watchful, but we couldn’t do much unfortunately,” Mathews said.
This is the fifth time Sri Lanka have been whitewashed 3-0. The last time they suffered defeats in all three Tests was in Australia in 2012-2013. Mathews was part of that team as well.
This was such a disappointing series as just three batsmen managed to score half-centuries after six innings whereas in Australia, Sri Lanka could have drawn the game in Hobart and nearly won in Sydney.
“I have been part of many defeats but as captain this is certainly the worst. We kind of expected to do better than what we did. There was no improvement from us.”
“The batters were extremely disappointing. All the batters including myself. All of us had got starts but didn’t convert them into big ones.
That is disappointing. To give the bowlers a chance we need to put the runs on the board.”
Mathews felt that the exposure of this young team to harsher realities was a good learning experience. Brought up on slow and low wickets, batsmen rarely play against a bowling attack comprising three fast bowlers in domestic cricket. But here in South Africa, the Proteas unleashed four quicks on a greenish wicket.
“If you look at our squad, only three guys have played in South Africa before. Guys like Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva are full of talent, but they need to be given a chance in these conditions. Playing four seamers in these conditions wasn’t easy. They will learn I am sure. It is tough time and we need to hang in there as a team.”
Now that the Test series is done and dusted, Sri Lanka have six days to turn things around before the T-20 Internationals start at the Centurion, 30 minutes drive from the capital Johannesburg. The team will come back to the Wanderers for the second T-20 and will fly to Cape Town for the final T-20. Five ODIs follow the T-20s and the limited overs specialists were at training at the Wanderers yesterday.
