Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lankan skipper, is not satisfied
with his side’s performance in the recently-concluded Test series against Australia
and admitted that the Islanders did not put up enough fight.
Having won the third Test of the three-match series at Sydney ,
the Kangaroos whitewashed Sri Lanka
3-0 and looked a far superior unit in every department of the game.
The seasoned cricketer feels that the visitors did compete
in the first and the third match but they failed to live up to the expectations
in the second fixture at Melbourne ,
where the hosts won a mammoth margin of an innings and 201 runs.
At Sydney , where
the conditions were conducive for spin bowling, the Lankan skipper thinks that
his team had a chance of dismantling the Baggy Greens but they failed to grab
the opportunities.
“I think Hobart
was a good fight, tough conditions, I thought we hung in pretty well there. Melbourne ,
we never showed any fight in that test match which was pretty disappointing,” said
Jayawardene. “Here, I think we fought really well, but it wasn't good enough. The
Australians played some really good cricket, they did give us a few chances but
we weren't good enough to take control and push forward.”
The Sydney Test was Jayawardene’s last as the captain of the
Lankan side as the great middle-order batsman has resigned from the post.
Since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan, one of the
greatest spin bowlers of all times, Sri Lanka have just managed one series victory,
that too by a narrow margin of 1-0 at home in 2012.
The cricketer from Colombo
admits that his team were not quite up to the mark against Australia
and they must raise their game in order to compete against the top teams of the
cricketing world.
“When you are competing at this level, I think we need to
be much better prepared and show more character to win test matches in these
conditions,” he added.
The five-match One Day International series between the two
sides begins from January 11, 2013, at Melbourne, which will be followed by a
couple of T20s.
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