Whatmore ready for South Africa in return clash

Coach Dav Whatmore said that he was looking forward to taking on South Africa in their own conditions, after Sri Lanka were forced to share the three-Test series one-all when the third and final Test ended in a draw at the SSC grounds on Thursday.

"The South African tour represents a huge challenge. If the side understands that it is a huge challenge, I am sure they will respond in a positive manner," said Whatmore.

"I think it is important if we can remain very competitive with them from early in the tour, that might just set the pattern for the rest of the games. We go there absolutely with no illusions of what might happen. We know it's going to be a tough two months.

"The accent will be more on the pace rather than the spin. We understand that, and we need to practice. The bowlers if they can bowl a decent line like what we did in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka I think could spring a surprise," said Whatmore.

"Our batsmen also like the ball coming on and we have got a couple of batsmen capable of getting big scores. There's no question about our batsmen being unable to adjust to the bounce in South Africa, because they have the technique to do that. I feel we have sufficient batting which can really resist the onslaught from time to time. We could have some enjoyable times out there. It will be interesting, but it is a challenge that I right now look forward to," he said.

Sri Lanka are due to renew their battle with South Africa in December when they make a three-Test tour there.

Returning to the just concluded series, Whatmore said: "South Africa got away with it".

"I don't want to take anything away from their obvious fighting abilities. Their ability to adapt in different conditions I thought, was good. Despite all that, the Sri Lankan team is better," said Whatmore.

"We haven't played South Africa very often and we haven't beaten them in a Test series before. There was a terrific incentive when you play against teams you are not quite used to. Perhaps that may be the reason when they fought a little bit harder in the second Test match, we didn't fight as hard. Maybe it was because we didn't know the opposition that well. It's not an excuse, but that could be a reason," he said.

Whatmore said losing the second Test at Kandy after a convincing innings win in the first at Galle was "a bitter pill to swallow".

"I was not happy when the series was drawn. I was happy with the effort shown in the second innings of the third Test to draw the series in that situation, but when you reflect back on that wonderful morale boosting performance in the first Test. Then to almost gift the game to South Africa in the second at Kandy, was not a nice experience. All the players were disappointed to get themselves into winning positions and to hand it back to the opposition," said Whatmore.

South African captain Shaun Pollock said he was disappointed that his side didn't win the series.

"I thought we played very good cricket in the last Test match. It is disappointing that we didn't win the series," said Pollock.

"The positives that came out was the fact that we drew the series on their own home territory and on wickets that definitely didn't suit us," he said. Pollock defended his decision to delay the declaration on the final day by saying: "When you got players like Arjuna, Jayasuriya and De Silva, they can always take the game away from you. It is always dangerous to try and set them a target. We had to set them a target to ensure that if they got them, they had to play really well".

South Africa closed their second innings at lunch leaving Sri Lanka two session to score 268 for victory. Sri Lanka finished on 195 for 4 wickets. Pollock was happy to draw his first Test series as captain. "As captain it does bring in a new dimension and it's a learning curve. As long as I am learning and progressing and getting better, then I am happy, " he said. South Africa's next assignment is a three-match one-day series played indoors in Australia.