da bet nacional： "I am happy about the way things went for us
Rex Clementine14-Aug-2001Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya was happy about the way thingswent for his side on the first day of the first Test match at theGalle International cricket stadium on Tuesday,"I am happy about the way things went for us. If you look at thescore board at the end of the day we have sent back the cream of theIndian batting back to the pavilion without very much on the board,"said Jayasuriya.The Sri Lankan captain this morning having won the toss, put theopposition in said he was happy about his decision at the end of thefirst day, "There was a lot of grass on the wicket and any captainwho wins the toss would have had no hesitation to put the oppositionin. I am happy that finally we picked up five wickets." remarkedJayasuriya.The Sri Lankan captain didn’t manage to get any wickets in the morningsession and he gave credit to the Indian openers for playingwatchfully, "You have to give credit for the manner in which theIndian batsmen played. They put their heads down and playedwatchfully. The bowlers too kept things tight for them. But I knew ifwe got two or three wickets we can end up the day in top."Jayasuriya took the new ball only in the 82nd over of the match andthat brought immediate success as Dilhara Fernando struck with twocrucial blows. When asked as to why he didn’t take the new ball a bitearlier, Jayasuriya said, "Murali was bowling well. I knew I couldtake the new ball. But I thought I ought to give Murali a longerspell. But when I decided to take the new ball we got two wickets."Sri Lanka’s fielding was not exactly top class today as they missed afew close chances. Talking about the fielding lapses, Jayasuriya said,"We missed a few catches. Rahul Dravid could have been a bad lapse.But luckily we got rid of him before long. Those players don’t givethat many chances. We have to be more alert in the field."The Sri Lankan batsmen have not been doing well in Test matches butJayasuriya is confident that things can improve, "Yes, we have notbeen doing well, but I hope that this time around we can changethings. We have been batting well lately. The batting came up good inthe Coca Cola Cup final so we are in good nick."