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'The first sessions tomorrow are crucial' - Moody

Sri Lanka were bowled out for 185 in just 57.5 overs in what were difficult conditions to bat in. Tom Moody, Sri Lanka's coach, vioces his opinion on the day's events

Cricinfo staff
27-Mar-2006
Sri Lanka were bowled out for 185 in just 57.5 overs in what were difficult conditions to bat in. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Farveez Maharoof restored some respectability to the innings with a 111-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Tom Moody, Sri Lanka's coach, spoke to the media on the day's events.


'I thought Sanga's delivery was a bit special considering that most of his deliveries had been going away from the left-hander but this one hit the seam and came back.' © AFP
On losing the toss
It was not ideal to loss the toss as it would have been nice to have the ball early on in challenging conditions. We also knew that the wicket was going to settle down in the afternoon but unfortunately the damage at the top was too severe and we didn't manage to get a decent total. (Tillakaratne) Dilshan played like Dilshan. He has one way of playing and that is the way he should play. His greatest strength is that he sees it, hits it and he turned the momentum around to us. (Farveez) Maharoof once again showed some maturity and quality with the bat. They managed to put some respectability into our total but it would have been nice if they were putting the icing on the cake and not making it.
On Sri Lanka's top order against the moving ball
I was a little disappointed. I thought early on we played at a few too many balls and there were a couple of loose shots. We knew going into the innings that it was going to move and we talked about being watchful and not following the ball. We were exposed. A couple of boys got very good deliveries that if they got on another day, it would knock them over again. I thought Sanga's (Kumar Sangakkara) delivery was a bit special considering that most of his deliveries had been going away from the left-hander but this one hit the seam and came back. It was a slight misjudgement perhaps but you can't do much about that. It needed to be a good delivery considering the way he has been batting. I thought (Thilan) Samaraweera's ball was pretty useful coming back quite alarmingly off a length where you would have thought it would have bounce more than it did.
On whether it set-off alarm bells for Sri Lanka's early summer England tour
I don't think what we saw today will mirror English conditions -- we will have some pretty short Test matches if they do. Having played in England a lot myself, the pitches do a little bit but they don't do what we saw there in the first session. However, there is no question that we have to do lots of homework on our batting. Our top order is not firing as it should do. The quality is there but it's not working together and we are not building the partnerships we should be getting. We are not seeing through the difficult periods - and those periods don't pass in 15 minutes, they last for one of two hours and you have to grind it out. That is tough Test cricket.
On Maharoof's growing stature as an allrounder
I think he is doing well, holding down a valuable position for us at No 7. Ideally, you want a No.7 capable of scoring centuries. Mah (aroof) has not yet reached that milestone yet but he has tempted us on a couple of occasions with a good innings today and a fine innings in Bangladesh under pressure. For a guy that is as young as he is, he is offering the team a lot and he will get better and better.
On the match situation
The game is very open. Batting last on this wicket is going to be very difficult. The first sessions tomorrow are going to be absolutely crucial. If we can bowl well and then bat well then we can find ourselves a position where we are right back in the match. That is a long way at this stage. We have got to bowl better than we did tonight and we have to obviously bat much better than we did in the first innings.