GALLE, Sri Lanka, CMC – Brendon Nash has hailed West Indies batting in the first innings of the first Test against Sri Lanka, and observed they stuck to their game plan.
The West Indies vice-captain scored 64, and shared a record fourth-wicket stand of 167 with Chris Gayle, as West Indies declared on 580 for nine about an hour before the close on the second day.
“Probably the runs we would have liked a little more, but Sri Lanka slowed the game down very well,” said Nash.
“Tactically they played very well. The amount of overs we batted were right because we wanted to keep the game moving forward, and didn’t want it to peter out to be a draw.”
He added: “That’s why we set ourselves how many overs we wanted to bat, and we wanted a few more runs admittedly, but it was good in a way we batted to all our targets.”
Nash spent close to five hours at the crease, and nursed Gayle through the latter stages of his career-best 333.
“Chris really summed it up quite well,” he said. “He knew when to attack, and when to pull back a little bit.
“That was maybe (because of) the way the pitch played, and they bowled very well in patches.”
Nash said: “We didn’t have target in mind, but I tried to keep him going. The conditions for him were changing.
“He’s been out there from ball one, and I tried to just keep him going mentally, and physically tried to hold him up.”
Nash felt West Indies were on top in the match, but he acknowledged Sri Lanka had the kind of batting line-up that could easily erase the visitors’ advantage, if they do not bowl well.
“Sri Lanka is used to scoring big runs, so we have to be tight,” he said. “We have a young bowling attack, experience-wise.
“On this sort of pitch, with the batsmen to come, we have to be really on our game, and stick to our game plan.”
He said: “Early wickets are the key for us, and the spinners are going to play a big part as their spinners did. There’s not much in it for the seam bowlers.”
Sri Lanka resume on the third day on 54 for one.
