London [UK], Dec 12 : Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne admitted that the batsmen should have changed their approach as the ball had started swinging post first session on Day 1 of the first Test against Pakistan.
Sri Lanka in the first session of Day 1 had a solid start to their innings as openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Oshada Fernando had a 96-run stand for the first wicket.
“There was a bit of swing in that second session, and a little seam, but I think we could have used a different approach because we’d had a good start, having made 89 in the first session,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Karunaratne as saying.
“Maybe we could have been more of a threat to their bowlers after lunch. We should have batted a bit more positively because when the runs are ticking over on the board, even if wickets fall, it’s not such a big deal,” he added.
Captain Karunaratne played a knock of 59 runs before becoming falling a victim to Shaheen Shah Afridi. He was caught in front of the wicket by the pacer.
Fernando, who scored 40 runs, was dismissed by young pacer Naseem Shah. Kusal Mendis (10) and Dinesh Chandimal (2) were scalped cheaply by Usman Shinwari and Mohammad Abbas respectively.
“We got good starts, but no one went for a big score,” said Karunaratne.
“We got a few 20s and 30s. We need to be converting those scores if we want to win a Test. Everyone, including me, has to make sure we don’t let go once we get those starts – in the next innings if we can,” he added.
Angelo Mattews and Dhananjaya de Silva built a 62-run partnership to get past the 150-run mark. The former was picked up by Shah after adding 31 runs to the scoreboard.
“We need to try and get to 300 because we need a good total to give our bowlers a chance. We got a good start and didn’t capitalise,” emphasised Karunaratne.
Sri Lanka were 202 for the loss of five wickets in 68.1 overs when the day was called off due to bad light. The match will start half an hour early on day two.
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