Dinusha’s heroic 133 set benchmark for Sri Lanka, says coach Kirsten

Sri Lanka head coach Gary Kirsten hailed Sonal Dinusha’s unbeaten 133 against India as one of the country’s great Test saves. He praised the young batter’s temperament and urged Sri Lanka to develop balanced pitches and stronger pace-bowling support.

Colombo: Describing Sonal Dinusha’s match-saving century in Sri Lanka’s second innings in the second Test against India as one of the finest batting performances in the country’s cricketing history, head coach Gary Kirsten said on Friday that the young batter’s performance set a benchmark for the rest of the players on how to deliver under immense pressure.

Dinusha hit a heroic undefeated 133 on day five at the SSC Ground and helped the hosts force a draw against a formidable Indian attack after being made to follow on. “This innings, what he was able to achieve on day four and day five, I would say (it) would go down in Sri Lankan Test cricket history as one of the great saves.

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“Forget the fact that he got a hundred in the first innings as well and was able to do this. I think it was a great example to a lot of cricketers in the country as to what you can do at Test match level against a really good bowling attack, following on in a tough situation,” Kirsten was quoted as saying by Cricinfo, at the conclusion of the series.

The former South African also expressed admiration for Dinusha’s temperament after coming out to bat at number six. “I think it’s never easy batting at six in a team because often you come in under pressure. What I was encouraged me was when I watched him in the West Indies; I saw that he really thrives in tough situations.

“I love the way he plays Test cricket. He thinks about it. He plays to his strengths, and he is a smart cricketer. He understands what the bowlers are trying to do to him and then he uses his skill sets to negate that,” he added.

Moving away from the traditional practice of preparing rank turners at home, Kirsten advocated for balanced surfaces like the ones used in the India series, where fast bowlers and batters both remained in contention across all five days.

“I’m a big fan of making sure that we don’t prepare wickets just for spinners. “We want to prepare wickets where we can win games with our seamers as well. That’s how you develop a cricket team – playing in all conditions. I was very impressed with the two wickets that were prepared for the Test series.

“They were hard-working Test wickets – not straightaway result wickets. We wanted our batters to be able to bat. Spinners have to work hard, and seamers are in the game. In the second innings at Galle, our seamers took seven of the ten wickets. I’m very encouraged that our seamers are in the game, and I certainly want to develop that more,” he added.

While praising fast bowler Asitha Fernando for strongly leading the pace attack, Kirsten stressed the urgent need to build a stronger supporting unit around him. “He’s a world-class bowler, and he’s been bowling really well this series.

“He’s been on top of his game. But we do need more assistance for him – we can’t just rely on him. That’s something we’re going to spend a lot of time working on: understanding how we can get 20 wickets and not just rely on spin.”