CAPE TOWN TEST
Mathews stresses on need for long hours of concentration
by Cricbuzz Staff •
Last updated on Fri, 06 Jan, 2017, 12:02 AM
Apart from Angelo Mathews (above), Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva were the only other Sri Lankan batsmen to occupy the crease for more than 100 minutes in an innings in Newlands
Batsmen's lack of concentration cost Sri Lanka dear, lamented skipper Angelo Mathews after his side succumbed to a 282-run loss in the second Test at Newlands, Cape Town to concede an unassailable 2-0 lead to South Africa in the three-match series. Not a single batsmen crossed fifty in two innings - with Mathews's 49 being the highest score - as Sri Lanka were bowled out cheaply twice, and the Lankan skipper attributed it to the lack of application to bat for long hours.
"It's obviously disappointing to repeat the same mistakes over two Test matches. Especially after winning the toss, we had them in the bag for the first couple of sessions. After that Dean Elgar batted brilliantly to get a hundred on that particular surface that was really tough to bat on for the first couple of days. It was seaming, it was moving off the pitch as well, and he left a lot of balls. The way he batted was a lesson to learn for all of us," Mathews said at the post-match press conference on Thursday (January 5).
"It was never going to be easy on that wicket, it had a little bit of bounce and pace and seam movement as well. We kind of expected it. The bowlers bowled pretty well except for the third session of the first day and the first two sessions on the second day. But the batters have been very disappointing. You need long hours of concentration against a quality attack like South Africa. They give you rare loose balls, we try to score runs off the good balls and end up nicking it to the slips or the keeper. So you need long hours of concentration. We're hopeful of at least rectifying the mistake in the third Test," he added.
As many as eight dismissals across two of Sri Lanka's innings were either catches to the keeper or the slip cordon. Admitting that the line outside off has been an Achilles heel for the Sri Lankan batsmen which they are trying to rectify, Mathews reiterated the need to apply themselves better with the bat to survive for longer periods.
"We've been working hard at the nets, trying to leave a lot of balls - that fifth-sixth stump (line) has been troubling our batters quite a lot. You just can't say that we've been used to slow and low conditions (in the subcontinent), you've got to come and play on foreign conditions as well. Most of the teams do struggle in foreign conditions. But we want to concentrate on our performance. You can't always think of going to foreign conditions (saying) we're not familiar with the conditions and lose games. We've worked really hard but it hasn't come off really well. We'll make sure that we'll work harder and the solution, as I said, is long hours of concentration," Mathews added.
Citing Elgar's innings as an example - the South African opener batted for 362 minutes for his 230-ball 129 in the first innings - Mathews urged the Sri Lankan batsmen to put the lessons to good use. "He (Elgar) was leaving a lot of balls, he's scored whatever he gets on his legs. So he's keeping it pretty simple and he made us work extremely hard for his wicket. As much as we wanted to get him out, we would like to take a few lessons off him, the way he batted in these conditions."
Dimuth Karunaratne in the first innings, and Kaushal Silva and Mathews in the second, were the only Sri Lankan batsmen to bat in excess of 100 minutes, while there were a few who fell to loose strokes. Admitting to Sri Lanka's flaws, Mathews said there should be a balance between patience and aggression, and stressed on the need to play according to situations.
"Batsmanship is always about scoring runs and I think you should have that balance, you should have that patience as well as aggression. You need to be able to balance it out. There are phases where you face a guy like (Vernon) Philander and (Kyle) Abbott who will not give you a loose ball. So you need to try and work that situation out. Yes, obviously you need to look for the bad balls but you know that's it's going to be very rare, so you need to tighten the game."
The Sri Lankan skipper also admitted that he made a mistake when he advised Dhananjaya de Silva against opting for a review when he was given out leg-before in the second innings. The batsman was looking settled at one stage before being rapped on the pads by Kagiso Rabada. On Mathews's insistence he did not opt for the DRS with replays later revealing that the ball would have missed the stumps.
Admitting that it was his error in judgement, Mathews said: "I actually saw him after that shot he ended up on middle stump, so I thought he was a dead duck. To see it in real time was pretty difficult. I thought, after he hit that ball, he was in the middle of the stumps. That's why the only question I asked him was whether he hit it. He said 'no' and he was also pretty certain. It was a mistake on our part," he concluded.
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