Pollock admits to dressing room flutter after ill-tempered final day
Charlie Austin - 19 November 2002
South Africa captain Shaun Pollock admitted there was a "dressing room flutter" during a dramatic run chase on the final day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at SuperSport Park on Tuesday.
South Africa collapsed to 44 for five chasing just 121 for victory, but
eventually emerged victorious after crucial contributions from Neil McKenzie
(39) and Mark Boucher (22*).
"There were a couple of flutters in the dressing room as we knew that Murali
had a good chance of knocking over the tail," said a relieved Pollock afterwards.
"But Neil (McKenzie) and Bouch got stuck in and we knew that in those situations you just need one good partnership to see you through."
Sri Lanka lost seven wickets for 65 runs in the morning but fought back bravely in the South African second innings.
"We knew that they would come at us hard," said Pollock. "There were some poor shots but when the you are in there and the ball is flying around, as a South Africa you feel like taking them on."
The final day was particularly ill-tempered with verbal exchanges between
Russel Arnold and Jacques Kallis and then later on between Pollock and Kumar
Sangakkara.
Umpires Darryl Harper and Russell Tiffen were forced to step on a couple of
occasions but match referee Gundappa Viswanath decided to take no disciplinary action afterwards.
"It was a hard and competitive match," said Pollock. "They have identified
mental toughness as an area for development and they want to have a presence
on the field. A couple of words were exchanged but the match was a great advert for Test cricket."
However, Sri Lankan captain Marvan Atapattu said afterwards that players of
both sides had overstepped the mark.
"In those tense moments players pass on the pressure – those things happen, it is part of the game but you should not go over the limit," he said. "I am not sure who started it and I am not going to blame one party but it was a bit too much in this game."
Atapattu, although disappointed to have lost, was pleased with the attitude of the players.
"We knew we were up against tough opposition and had to put one foot forward. I thought we matched them for long periods of the game."
© CricInfo Ltd.
