‘We had nothing to lose in the second innings’: Mathews

Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath (C) celebrates with his teammates after taking the wicket of India’s Ajinkya Rahane (not pictured) on the fourth day of their first test cricket match in Galle 15 August – Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte

ESPNCricinfo: Angelo Mathews conceded he did not really think Sri Lanka could win at lunch on day three, but suggested the dire match situation unlocked the fearless attitude that won his team the Galle Test. Sri Lanka had been 108 for 5 - still 84 runs adrift of India - when the first session ended on day three. However, a rousing Dinesh Chandimal counterattack and a sublime unbroken fourth-day spell from Rangana Herath sent Sri Lanka hurtling to a 63-run victory.

“We were down and out for the first three and a half days,” Mathews said. “With Chandi’s innings - it gave us some sort of life to come back into the game. I think sometimes individually and as a team, when we have nothing to lose, you go out and give it your best shot. That’s what happened here for us as well. We had to go out there and get 192 runs to draw level with India, but not think about it too much - not think about a big lead. We just wanted a 100-150 lead to give our bowlers a chance at least.”

“After the first innings the batters got together and talked it out,” Mathews said. “We said we’ve got no other choice than being positive. We can’t play forward defence all the time, because more often than not it goes to silly point or short leg. We had to use our sweeps, reverse sweeps and be positive. That’s the approach we wanted to carry because there was no point just trying to hang in their way. We couldn’t have hung in there for three days to be honest. Chandimal made a real difference and the rest of the batters contributed however they could.

“In the first innings - we had played poorly. We were not positive enough. We kept losing wickets. We didn’t use our feet. When it came to the second innings we had nothing to lose.” Herath had been miserly but wicketless in the first innings, sending down 33 overs for 67 runs, but yet was instrumental to the victory, claiming 7 for 48 in the final innings. It was a comeback match for Herath of sorts, having been dropped for the final Test against Pakistan in Pallekele, having not taken more than one wicket in each of the two previous Tests.

“Rangana has worked extremely hard in the past few weeks,” Mathews said. “He’s the bowler he is. It’s just that you can have on and off days in Test matches. You can have rough patches as batsmen or bowlers. All you can do is work really hard and come back. He has done exactly that. He’s been absolutely brilliant for us over the past few years. Unfortunately we had to leave him out against Pakistan but he showed his character once again. He was absolutely brilliant once again. He’s our premier bowler and he’s carried us through this whole match.”

Mathews, who has now presided over two victories in which Sri Lanka have overcome first-innings deficits of more than 100, said this win would raise belief in his young side: “We’ve got a couple of seniors in Rangana Herath and Kumar Sangakkara. Sangakkara is leaving after the next game. It is a transitional period for us, but I thought it was a great team effort. It gives us the morale boost to go forward in this tournament. We will definitely go for the kill in the next game.”

India captain Kohli rues lack of intent from batsmen

Sri Lanka’s captain Angelo Mathews (R) shakes hands with India’s captain Virat Kohli after Sri Lanka won their first test cricket match against India in Galle 15 August – Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte

Reuters: India captain Virat Kohli slammed his team’s batsmen for lack of intent during their failed chase of 176 in the opening test at Galle and said the touring side did not do enough to counter Sri Lanka’s spin threat.

India dominated most of the match after dismissing Sri Lanka for 183 on the first day and taking a first-innings lead of 192 but Dinesh Chandimal’s swashbuckling unbeaten 162 allowed the hosts to stage a fightback.

The experienced Rangana Herath picked up seven wickets while young off-spinner Tharindu Kaushal took three to bundle out India for 112 and power Sri Lanka to a spectacular comeback win by 63 runs.

“We did not counter what was being thrown at us. The need of the hour was to take calculated risk when you are chasing a small total,” Kohli told reporters.

“The intent has to be there which I think was lacking. It’s something we need to improve on. It was a case of us not playing fearless cricket and not going out there and being positive. We have been let down by our batting today. There are no excuses.”

“We have had batting collapses in the past as well where we have lost wickets in bunches,” Kohli added.

“Every time if you sit down and analyse it’s been because we have ended up being too tentative. Today was a classic example of guys not backing themselves enough to express their ability out there. You have to do something to disrupt a bowler’s length.”