It is anybody's game say coaches
 

SA'ADI Thawfeeq reporting from Dambulla

Dambulla, Friday - The coaches of both Sri Lanka and West Indies 'A'teams shared the same opinion and said that the first unofficial cricket test was evenly poised and it could be anybody's game at the end of day two at Rangiri Dambulla Stadium here today.

West Indies 'A' were 113-3 in their second innings after scoring 295 in the first. Sri Lanka 'A' made 258.

"The game is in the balance. It is anybody's game. Either team's got an opportunity," said Sri Lanka 'A' coach Stan Nel. "We want to get them out under 300 because that is gettable in a day on this ground. Even if they make 400 I believe that we can chase it and get it. We are confident."

Nel said this 'test' is almost a mirror image of the last 'test' Sri Lanka 'A' played against Pakistan 'A' on this ground in April.

"On the first day in the last session 10 wickets fell and it was 13 for the day. The same thing has happened yesterday. We batted all day through the third day and hit 403 and Pakistan was 342-7 chasing when bad light stopped play. It is how we look at the game at the moment," he said.

Nel said the pitch was turning into a batting paradise as it did in the last 'test' that was played here. He expressed disappointment with the top order batting which contributed only 78 runs in comparison to the opposition's top order that made 230.

"Having said that young Malintha Gajanayake put his hand up and played in an important partnership. So has Gayan Wijekoon. PJ (Prasanna Jayawardene) continues to be reliable as he is," said Nel.

"I don't think there is any problem with the middle order. As you can see they all made some sort of contribution and some good partnerships. It is the top three. I am sure they will give us something in the second innings," he said.

West Indies 'A' coach Allen said that it was a well-poised game and that he was pretty much comfortable and satisfied with the position they are in. West Indies 'A' lead overall by 151 runs with seven second innings wickets in hand.

"We are looking at a total which would put them under pressure where they will have to score at least about 3 or 4 runs per over in day of 90 overs. That is gonna take some getting," said Allen.

"We are hoping to get a good start tomorrow and capitalize on this score and post a respectable total. We like to set them something over 300 plus.

But we'll have to work hard for that," Allen continued.

It is not going to be easy because Sri Lanka will be coming at us tomorrow. They will try to bowl us out as quickly as possible. But we on the other hand will try to bat as long as possible. That is what we will be aiming for."

Allen said that from everything that happened on the first day it seemed the pitch was conducive to spin but gave credit to his fast bowlers who were rewarded when they put on some effort.

Allen was however of the opinion that the pitch was more on the spinning side and that Sri Lanka had a lot of good spinners to exploit it. However he was confident his batsmen could overcome that difficulty.

"Once you put your head down you can manoeuvre the spin. You have to be very cautious, patient and positive," he said.