Mahela Jayawardena Interview After Scoring 101 vs England at Kandy in 2nd Test in March 2001

Transcript

00:00the runs and try and after day one put the game beyond England yeah that's

00:03always the case on a test mat that you put pressure on the first and keep

00:07adding the pressure up so we lost a couple of early wickets but we didn't

00:12want to change our game which was to hit the loose ball and be positive all the

00:16time I think that paid us a lot to get to 290 and how much pressure was there

00:23on you and the middle order after those wickets went down to to try and turn

00:27things around to make sure that you know you could follow that game plan yeah we

00:31just have to consolidate a bit at the middle say before lunch and just after

00:36lunch and after that once we got into a rhythm and we just kept on going I was

00:42really disappointed not to make a big hundred because it would have really

00:46helped the side but that's how things are yeah I mean obviously credit to yourself

00:50for getting that same tree but as ever batsmen like yourself you want to go on

00:54from there don't you in test cricket very much yeah it's a test match it's a very

00:57important game for us as well and team point of view I really missed out on a

01:01big score yes and credit to the England bowlers I mean it's the placement who

01:05took all the wickets today they show plenty of fights yeah they really kept us

01:09bare I mean they put the ball on the right place most of the time and they

01:12just kept asking so they really worked hard I mean to bowl throughout the day

01:18and the heat wasn't that bad but the wicket I think it helped not like the goal

01:22because it had plenty of bounds and carry so they bowled really well yes

01:26I was gonna say they got more out of the wicket than they did in goal was it more

01:29difficult to bat against the England bowlers on this wicket here well this

01:33wicket is like it's I think it's much easier to bat rather than the goal we could

01:37which the ball didn't come on to the bat here the ball did come on to the bat but

01:40then again the bowlers had plenty as well so you just have to be patient and I

01:45mean looking back in your innings and you said you're disappointed not to make it a big

01:49hundred but how satisfied from it were you yourself well obviously getting a

01:54hundred is very much satisfying but team point of view it's a very big

01:58disappointment for me yeah the new ball when England's at the new ball really

02:01that's when they they finished off the Sri Lankan tale really yeah I think when

02:04they got Russell that was the turning point and other guys didn't manage to

02:08play that well so I think that was the turning point so a little disappointment for

02:13you at the end of the day here but how would you sum up the the match situation

02:17after day one well considering the conditions I'm in the wicket I think it

02:20will deteriorate more when the days goes by so 300 runs on the first innings is a

02:25very good total so it's just that we have to bowl well and just keep things

02:29tight and see what happens yeah day two and all the other days now they've got a

02:33lot to live up to now really haven't they oh yeah I mean like they have to be

02:37positive I mean they're one down so they have to come up with some plans so we'll see

02:41how it is lovely thanks very much indeed for your time