NEWS
Follow UsWest Indies head coach Daren Sammy believes Sri Lanka reverting to turning tracks in the final two T20Is of the three-match series was a ‘moral victory’ for his side due to the sheer fact that the hosts had to ‘react’ to what the Windies had done in the first T20I.
West Indies comfortably chased down 180 in the first T20I, but in the second and third games, on tracks that turned considerably more, their batters were bamboozled. Across the second and third games, the Sri Lankan spinners picked 15 of the 18 wickets to fall and registered an economy of 6.1. Sri Lanka won the last two games comfortably and went on to win the series 2-1.
"For us, to see the last two games, and the nature of the wicket from what it was at the start, I thought we actually won the contest," Sammy said after the series, reported ESPNcricinfo.
"Because we were the away team and in conditions set before us, we challenged them with a squad that was not our full squad, and they had to react to that.”
A confident Sammy asserted that, come the T20 World Cup in 2026, which will be played across India and Sri Lanka, the ICC will not dish out wickets that turn so extravagantly.
"So I told the guys, 'Yes, when the World Cup comes, we won't get these conditions - the ICC will make sure the pitches are good'. So it was a moral victory for us from the first game to the second game,” Sammy said.
Sammy further opined that by preparing such turning wickets, Sri Lanka were hindering the development of young pacers in the squad.
"When you have pacers like the two slingers [Nuwan Thushara and Matheesha Pathirana], not getting an opportunity to bowl on good wickets when the true test comes, that's where you really test your team,” Sammy said.
"I mean, there's home advantage, but what good does that make for the development of your squad, especially your fast bowlers, in being able to bowl and have an impact on the game?”.
Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka, however, attested that the hosts are well within their rights to play to their strength, which is spin bowling.
"Sri Lanka's strength has always been spin, and we still believe that it's with spin that we will be able to win the most," Asalanka said following Sri Lanka's series win.
"So we made pitches to support that strength. When that's working for us, I think it's a lot easier for us to win."
The two sides will now clash in a three-match ODI series starting October 20. All three games will be played in Pallekele.
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