da bet nacional： West Indies coach Roger Harper was confidant his side could comeback with agood performance in the second Test at Kandy starting on Wednesday, butadmits that the side need to find a way to counter off-spinner MuttiahMuralitharan
Saadi Thawfeeq19-Nov-2001West Indies coach Roger Harper was confidant his side could comeback with agood performance in the second Test at Kandy starting on Wednesday, butadmits that the side need to find a way to counter off-spinner MuttiahMuralitharan.”We came into the Galle Test without much cricket at all. Having said that,we’ve got five days of Test cricket under our belts. We know exactly what weare up against here. I think that mentally we will be more prepared, morefocused on what we have to do to give ourselves a chance of doing well inKandy,” said Harper.”I think losing three wickets in the first session was a big set back for usand one from which we never really recovered. We have to look at themistakes we made and look at the areas we can improve. One of the things wenoted from this game especially, in the first innings was that the batsmengot starts and didn’t convert them into big totals. When you look at the SriLankan scorecard, they had a 99, 140 and 105.”We have to try and make sure that the guys who get in really put somethingbig on the board. We cannot afford to allow the opposition to score quicklyespecially at the start of their innings. We pulled it back on the fourthday quite a bit, but at the start of their innings they managed to score abit too quickly,” he said.Harper said that Muralitharan taking 11 West Indies wickets was nothingcompared to the 361 wickets he’s already got.”The point I am trying to make is that he is an outstanding bowler andcompeting against him on these wickets you know you are gonna have a toughtime. We have to look at how to counter him. We’ve been working on that,”said Harper.He said the present West Indies team was much fitter and prepared to workhard on their mistakes. “They showed commitment throughout the time theywere on the field,” said Harper.The good news for West Indies is that fast bowler Reon King will be fit forthe second Test at Kandy. “The doctor has given him the all clear tocontinue playing. He shouldn’t have any problems,” said Harper.