Rex Clementine in Galle

Having bowled Sri Lanka to a memorable victory over Pakistan in the second Test, Prabath Jayasuriya told the press that life had been hard for him having come to Colombo from far off Matale. Things were not going to plan for him and he had to wait patiently. But eventually perseverance has paid off for the 30-year-old.

“It’s been a tough journey for me. Coming to Colombo from Matale was a tough ask. I had to do everything on my own and didn’t have much help. You are all alone and finally you feel the pinch. There were challenges financially but I kept things to myself without burdening my loved ones at home. I just tried to play cricket putting my head down. I must say coach Dinesh Weerasinghe, who gave me the first break by taking me to Lumbini Vidyalaya, has been a huge help.”

Sri Lanka came into final the day’s play needing nine wickets to win the game and square the series. They did well to take four wickets in the morning session but still Babar Azam was holding fort.

“We knew rain was a threat. When Babar was dismissed we knew that we could pull this off. Babar is their anchor. That was the crucial wicket and once he was out we knew the others would fold,” Jayasuriya who dismissed the Pakistan captain said.

Jayasuriya’s delivery to dismiss Mohammad Rizwan was a special one. He had created doubts in the batsman’s mind by spinning the ball away and then suddenly bowled one that went straight on. The batsman expected it to turn but was completely bamboozled.

“That delivery came close to the stumps and bowled him. Usually I have been bowling wide of the crease. He was obviously playing for turn and didn’t read that one. It felt good to take that wicket as I set him up nicely.”

“From schooldays I took wickets from my arm ball. I took 100 wickets in my last season. When the ball is turning, rather than getting wickets from the ones that turn, you can take wickets with the straight one. When you spin the ball and create doubts for the batsmen, the straight ball comes in handy. It was proven today.”

Sri Lanka’s decision to delay the declaration on day four was criticized. But eventually, there was no harm done as they won with plenty of time to spare. “What we thought was that a target of 500 more than 450 is scoreboard pressure for them. The wicket was not spinning as much as we thought. We got into trouble after setting 342 in the first Test. A target of 500 means they never try to chase and only defend. So the chances of taking wickets are more as batsmen are adapting a negative tactic. I am happy with the declaration.”