Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne believes that both teams played well and put in a lot of hard work but admitted that the pitch at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium was difficult to take wickets after the two-match Test series ended at 0-0 on Saturday (April 3).
After the first Test ended in a draw, West Indies and Sri Lanka fought hard to win the second and final Test, but the tourists made sure to not lose the series while chasing 377 to win the game, as they put in an all-round effort to share the Test trophy with the hosts on Friday.
The skipper said that Sri Lanka needs to improve their batting and partnerships in the Test cricket while hailing the fast bowlers' performance in the Test series against West Indies.
Karunaratne said at the post-match presentation: “I think if you talk about the surface, then it is difficult to take wickets. There was a bit of help on the first two days but it got flatter and flatter as the Test progressed. Both teams played well and put in a lot of hard work.”
He further added, “I think we played well, especially the bowlers; they did all the work on this surface. We need to improve our batting and need partnerships going forward, those are our concerns. We lost our main spinner in the second innings and Dhananjaya de Silva did a good job.”
Karunaratne signed off by saying, “For me, the positives are Lahiru Thirimanne's batting, Oshada Fernendo too, and Pathum Nissanka on how he handled the pressure. When you are playing Test cricket, patience is the key and that is something to work on. They [West Indies] beat Bangladesh and have been dominating throughout the series and I wish them all the best.”
(With ANI Inputs)
