By Ken Borland
CAPE TOWN Jan 3 (Reuters) – Bowling coach Champaka
Ramanayake conceded Sri Lanka had misread the pitch when they
asked South Africa to bat first in the third and final test on
Tuesday and then compounded the mistake by bowling badly.
At the close of the first day at Newlands, South Africa were
347 for three with Jacques Kallis unbeaten on 159. The series is
tied 1-1.
“We did not bowl well at all, especially in the first
session when we could have kept them to under 80 runs. Our line
wasn’t so bad but the length was either too far up or a bit
short,” Ramanayake told a news conference.
“If we could have kept them under 300 at stumps, I would
have been very happy, but the 50 runs extra was because of bad
bowling.
“We thought that pitch would do something but it did not do
as much as expected. It became a good pitch after the first
session, but we did not bowl well – that was the main reason.”
South Africa opener Alviro Petersen, who scored 109 in his
first test for 12 months, said the South Africans would have
batted if they had won the toss.
“We were surprised they sent us in, the pitch looked quite
dry this morning and we wanted to bat first anyway. We made full
use of the conditions and would like to get a big first-innings
total,” he said.
“I think the pitch will deteriorate, it’s really dry and
this afternoon some balls hit the cracks and they were already
loose. It will turn and we want to put scoreboard pressure on
the Sri Lankans.
Continued…
