After being on the ropes at the end of the First Test, the Lankans counter punched their way out in the second and now have the Kiwis where they want to deliver the knockout punch.
The Lankans must not relax but endeavour to deliver the k/o as quickly as possible. They have it in them to do this and their supporters led by that 'cheering ambassador' Lionel and his guru Percy Abayasekera will be there to egg them on.
The wicket at the SSC has always been a result producing one. And it is hoped that it will continue to play that way. Curator Ranil Abeynaike has bags of experience in wicket making and he can be relied on to produce a wicket that will give the players an equal chance.
As usual the wicket at the Galle Esplanade came in for a little flack from visiting captain Fleming. That is nothing new. Losing captains always complain. They forget that the wicket was the same for both teams.
The irrepressible Jayananda Warnaweera who is carrying Galle cricket and its development on his shoulders must be congratulated for the manner in which he conducted this first historic Test.
The wicket he produced was a good one. It helped the spinners by providing them with spin and bounce. Spinners pray for this type of wickets and revel on them as did our spinners Dharmasena, Muralitharan and Bandarathilake.
It was sad that First Test wreckers Paul Wiseman and Daniel Vettori did not have the know how to make use of this wicket.
The Lankans will continue with the same team. Batsmen of the calibre of Jayasuriya, Atapattu, Aravinda de Silva, Kaluvitharne and Tillekeratne have not struck it rich so far. Big scores are long overdue from them. Ranatunga is striking it about nicely but when he seems set for a big score he tends to lose concentration and gifts his wicket. His presence in the middle is important when the youngsters are at the wicket. Jayawardena should continue his dream run.
Tillekeratne who had the ignominy of being dropped is still finding his way. It is not easy to come back and be in the same frame of mind. But he has it in him to come good. He must be aggressive in his strokeplay and not be pinned to the crease. Once he does this and gets the feel of the ball in the middle of his bat, it should lift his batting. But his fielding and catching close to the wicket are indispensable.
Once again the spin twins Muralitharan and Bandarathilake will have a big responsibility to shoulder. They are lucky to have a captain who uses them judiciously and intelligently and with off cutter Dharmasena to support them, they should prove to be the Kiwis terminators.
As for the Kiwis they must be wondering how their game crumbled after such a convincing performance in the First Test. They know how important this Test is to them and coach Steve Rixon would have got them back to the drawing board showing them where they went wrong.
The Lankans must understand that a game is not won or lost till the final ball is bowled. There should be no letting up until the opponents last wicket is captured!