We let the advantage slip: Thirimanne

India would have gone back to their dressing room with their heads and hopes high as the visitors made merry on Day 3 of the second test driving home the advantage. Sri Lanka lost their last 7 wickets in quick succession and let India run away with a significant lead. India ended the day with an overall lead of 157 runs with nine wickets in hand which puts them in the driver’s seat and are now certainly the favourites to win this match. Thirimanne stressed on the fact that the Sri Lankan middle order failed to cope up with the second new ball and let the game slip away.

“As the day went, there was some turn for the spinners, but when they got the second new ball we threw the advantage away losing two-three wickets. We knew we had to get a 350 plus score in the first innings, but we couldn’t do that. Hopefully we can get some early wickets tomorrow morning,” Thirimanne said.

Thirimanne opined that the pitch was flat for most of the time but the Indians bowled well, especially the spinners:

“It was doing a little bit for the fast bowlers, but after the first half an hour it was really flat. But, Ashwin and Mishra bowled really well at the time, (they got) a little bit turn and they bowled in good areas. We batted through that period really well but we couldn’t capitalize on the start we got.”

He further spoke about the way the pitch was behaving. “Normally on this wicket there is something for the fast bowlers early on and as the day goes by, there is something on it for the spinners as well. It is a good cricket pitch. It had a little bit of slow spin. Sometimes it is easy to pick the spinners when the ball is getting slower, but when you get in initially you have to work on the pace of the wicket. For the batsmen it is easy when you score 20-30 runs.” He said.

He was still optimistic about Sri Lanka’s chances as the spinners are likely to get a lot of purchase in the days to come.

“It will spin a little bit more, but we have to get early wickets. Hopefully, if we can restrict them under 300, it will be a good score to chase.”