da betobet： Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s serene middle order batsman, is bracinghimself for a pace onslaught against South Africa starting Friday
Charlie Austin08-Nov-2002Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s serene middle order batsman, is bracinghimself for a pace onslaught against South Africa starting Friday.The 25-year-old right-hander, now firmly established as Sri Lanka’s finestbatsman in a richly talented line-up, has made adjustments to his game inanticipation of the expected battle with Shaun Pollock and company.A naturally modest and understated character he is nevertheless confident ofmaintaining a prolific run for form that has seen him average 55.50 in thelast two years, including five Test centuries.”We have no problems with facing fast bowlers. As long as we stick to ourgame plan and back ourselves to do well in these conditions we will be ok,”said Jayawardene.Jayawardene, possessed with a natural inclination to attack, vows to take onthe pace bowlers in what promises to be a mouth-watering contest.”In South Africa your defense has to be solid and you must be very compact,playing the ball in front of your eyes,” he reveals. “But you must alsoremain positive, looking to score whenever possible.Being an impulsive ‘hooker’ he can be expect to be targeted with shortdeliveries by the South Africans, who will hope that he holes out in thedeep.But Jayawardene will be taking on the challenge: “I will be pulling andcutting because I know that I am not going to get many opportunities todrive.”During his last tour to South Africa he started with a brilliant 98 atDurban but failed to pass fifty in his next five innings. This time he hopesfor greater success having tinkered with his technique during the past twoyears.”I have been making little adjustments to my game such as reducing mybacklift and trying to avoid moving my feet unnecessarily,” he reveals. “Onthe sub-continent we tend to walk into out shots but here you cannot affordto do that.”Although Sri Lanka have a woeful Test record outside the sub-continent withonly three victories in the past two decades, Jayawardene believes that hiscolleagues can surprise South Africa during the forthcoming series.”We have improved a lot during the last three years,” he says. “We may havelost our last series here but we learnt a great deal during that tour andhopefully we can put those things right in these two Test matches.””We had two good practice matches here so far. The batsmen have spent timein the middle and everyone is feeling pretty confident. However, the Testmatch is going to be totally different and we have to prepare ourselvesmentally.”He urges his colleagues to lift their games: “We cannot be one step belowthem just because we are not used to playing in these conditions. We have toraise our game in all three departments and compete with them on a levelpar.”And if they possess the required self belief then Jaywardene is hopeful: “Aslong as we have the confidence in ourselves we can be successful herebecause South Africa have traditionally not handled pressure well.”But he warns that the first two days will be crucial: “When they get on topit can be very difficult to pull them back. It’s imperative that we do letthem get away in the first two days of the Test match. If we can stay withthem to the 3rd and 4th day then we have a very good chance.”