Dhananjaya de Silva reflects on historic whitewash in Test series against New Zealand (Twitter)
Sri Lanka scripted history as they darted their way to a stellar series victory over New Zealand, post winning the second Test by a whopping margin of an innings and 154 runs.
Skipper of the victorious side, Dhananjaya de Silva, reflected on the memorable game as well as the entire series, was refreshed to witness the bowlers, particularly the spinners, bowl tirelessly in the scorching heat. De Silva also revealed that the side had been emphasizing a lot on fielding ahead of the series.
“The way they bowled long spells was brilliant to see. We have been practising hard, and we have been catching a lot. It has paid off,” he stated at the post-match presentation.
Player of the Series Prabath Jayasuriya, debutant Nishan Peiris, and Ramesh Mendis bowled an aggregate of 223 overs amongst each other, and accounted for 33 of the Black Caps’ 40 wickets throughout the series. The Lankans have been quite sloppy in the field in the recent past, and it was really refreshing to witness them holding on to 18 catches across the two games.
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Maybe luck! I called and tossed well: de Silva
Humorously attributing the series victory to his luck while flipping the coin, he credited Dinesh Chandimal and Kamindu Mendis for their specific roles they bring to the table.
“Maybe luck! I called and tossed well. Chandimal gives us a balanced side and Kamindu can play the long innings. It was brilliant,” added de Silva.
Interesingly, de Silva has won the toss on seven of the eight occasions he has led the red-ball side.
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Chandimal and Mendis were two of the three centurions for the hosts during their first innings with the bat, registering 116 and 182, respectively. Surprisingly, Mendis was on his way to smash his way to a maiden double ton but was denied from the milestone due to de Silva declaring the innings on a score of 602/5.