Kalu warns Sri Lanka ‘A’ – “Don’t let your guard down”
Sri Lanka ‘A’ coach Romesh Kaluwitharana warns his players not to be over confident against the visiting Kiwis during the three match One Day series, starting at Pallekele International Stadium, today. Having won the two match un-official test series, 1-0, Sri Lanka ‘A’ strengthened its bowlingunit by adding two test fast bowlers, Suranga Lakmal and Shaminda Eranga, along with leg spinner Seekuge Prasanna.
Romesh Kaluwitharana, who once turned the game of One Day Cricket on its head, along with legendary Sanath Jayasuriya, says that his team is capable of trouncing the Kiwis but should be mindful of the situation.
“We have many gifted cricketers and most of them are natural stroke makers”
“We always tell them how to build a long innings. So when they go for quick runs, especially, in limited over cricket, these guys don’t realize that they have to play 300 balls” Kaluwitharana said.
“Going for quick runs is ok at times, but you have to be mindful of the situation too”
“Playing 300 balls is much tougher than playing a T20. So the first six or seven batsmen have to negotiate for at-least 260 balls and that’s what we want them to do in this series” the ‘A’ team coach said.
In the Sri Lanka ‘A’ squad, opener Kusal Janith Perera, skipper Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Perera, Ashan Priyanjan and Kithruwan Vithanage are considered as free scoring batsmen. They need just the right nod to go after bowling.
However, skipper Chandimal seems to be a fast learner and he clearly knows that lot of responsibilities lie on his young shoulders.
“We’ve got a good One Day team, so we’re hoping to get one game at a time and win the series” Chandimal said at the press conference at Pallekele, last evening
“Suranga Lakmal and Shaminda Eranga have been included to the ODI side”
“There is no cricket for national players and that’s why they came in. That’s good in one way because they get the opportunity. We had couple of practice sessions with the OD players and they quickly fitted into the team” Chandimal said.
As usual, Sri Lanka ‘A’ was not willing to reveal the final XI till the match day and they’ll be making the final call in the morning. Explosive left hander, Kusal Janith Perera looks vulnerable in seaming conditions. His haste to put the bat to ball on such conditions caused his own downfall in many occasions.
“Everybody cannot play well in seaming conditions. It’s nothing new”
“But in these kinds of matches, we want them to understand their weakness and make adjustments to the situation”
“When we practice, we look into those areas and I think, he’ll make use of these matches to win his place back in the national team” Kaluwitharana said.
New Zealand will be led by all rounder, Andrew Ellis, in the absence of Tom Letham, who joined the Black Caps, who are practicing in Colombo to acclimatize the hot and humid conditions before landing in Bangladesh for a full tour. Along with Letham, three more cricketers have joined the New Zealand national team and they are Doug Bracewell, Ish Sodhi and fast bowler Mark Gillespie.
Grant Elliot, Anaru Kitchen and spinner Ronnie Hira have joined the New Zealand ‘A’ camp. Anaru Kitchen is a top order batsman.
Ronnie Hira is a left arm spinner and Grant Elliot can bat too.
However, losing the service of Doug Bracewell is going to be costly for the tourists in Pallekele since the hard hitting all rounder can change a match situation in double quick time. He smashed a 79 ball century in Dambulla, including 8 fours and 7 sixes, on a surface that spinners shared 10 wickets in 61 overs.
“We’ve got a point to prove in the One Dayers and we’re looking forward for the three games” said skipper Andrew Ellis.
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