Dav WhatmoreNational Coach
South Africa have won the Test series. They deserved to as they have played excellent cricket throughout the tour. We have learnt some harsh lessons and now travel to New Zealand anxious to start afresh and get back to our winnings ways.
The injuries to Muralitharan and Vaas were always going to make life difficult for us at SuperSport Park. However, The Management had to make a decision that was in the long-term interests of each player's health. If we had risked either player, we could have jeopardised their fitness for the New Zealand and England series.
Both players are now recovering and we expect Chaminda Vaas to be match-fit in ten days' time. Muralitharan should be back on the field sooner than that.
Despite the absence of our premier strike bowlers we did well in the first two sessions of the Test match. If I had been offered seven wickets at tea before the start of the match I would have taken it. However, considering the way the pitch had played, we should not have allowed them to score so many runs.
The bowlers were ill disciplined and offered the South African batsmen too many opportunities to score. The guys have good techniques, but we lacked the necessary mental application and concentration. When you are bowling against a side with the depth of batting that South Africa has, you have to consistently put the ball in the right area if your are going to have a chance of restricting them to a reasonable score.
We failed to do that and in the final session we were severely punished by Shaun Pollock and Neil McKenzie. Indeed, the innings of Pollock proved to be the defining moment of the Test match. He took the game away from us in the space of two hours of scintillating batting. Great to watch if you were a South African fan, but a very painful experience for us.
Then, when we batted, we once again lost early wickets. Marvan Attapattu is a key player for us and is the anchor around which we build large totals. However, he has had some wretched luck so far on the tour and, for the second time in the series, was run out in the first few overs.
Thereafter we collapsed. In contrast to the South African batsmen, who have been so adept at leaving good balls, we have pushed at deliveries that we shouldn't be playing and have paid the ultimate price. At least we showed some fight in the second innings.
Kumar Sanagakkara deserved a hundred. He showed the kind of courage and mental discipline that we need from all the players. Both he and Mahela Jayawardene have provided further confirmation on this tour that they are very bright prospects for the future. They are both technically sound, mentally strong, and are thus quality players.
When I look back, the Second Test Match in Kandy against South Africa stands out as the key moment in our recent past. We should have won that match and gone 2-0 up in the series. All the hard work had been done, but we relaxed and let them off the hook. It proved to be the catalyst for their success since. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, were left to mull over an opportunity missed and a drawn series.
We will now get together as a team and discuss the tour. Everyone will get a chance to voice his personal opinion in what will be a progressive forum. Then, when the problems have been identified and lessons absorbed, it's time to move on, and get back to winning. Despite the disappointment of South Africa, we have had a relatively successful year in 2000. We need to build on this and look forward to the future.
New Zealand will be an ideal opportunity to regain our confidence. We will be playing against a new opposition in different conditions. I expect the pitches to be more conducive to our game and I am positive that the team will quickly bounce back strongly.