West Indies Test captain, Kraigg Brathwaite is confident his top order could pose a good first innings total and, backed up by a solid bowling display, win their first Test in Galle against Sri Lanka.
The first test commences today and during yesterday’s pre-match conference, Brathwaite spoke of the importance of the bowling unit.
“It’s always important, we have to get 20 wickets to win a game and you know the bowling unit has really been behind this team for the last couple of months,” he declared.
The captain said that he reckons that the conditions will favour the spinners but did not want to preempt anything.
“Obviously the pitch looks spin friendly. It’s quite dry. We as a group, the spinners know their roles and look forward to the challenge. We can’t premeditate that the pitch will spin but it is quite dry but I think as a bowling unit it is important to not think two far ahead,” he said.
West Indies have walked with two left-arm spinners, Jomel Warrican and Veerasammy Permaul while also including premier off-spinning all-rounders, Rahkeem Cornwall and Roston Chase.
Additionally, Brathwaite himself has had success with the ball in Sri Lanka while Jermaine Blackwood and Nkrumah Bonner have turned their hands over on occasions.
However, it has been the pacers who have led the West Indies bowling unit in recent times, particularly, Kemar Roach and Jason Holder who have taken 30 and 21 wickets respectively over the last 12 months. Young pacer, Jayden Seales has also created some stir and will be in his first away series.
“I think it is key for us what we discuss is once we build the pressure with dot balls, it’s simple as that, dot balls will bring wickets…,” the captain said.
On the three occasions that the West Indies played at Galle, Sri Lanka won twice while one match was drawn. Most recently in 2015, West Indies were blown away, losing by an innings and six runs.
Brathwaite reasoned that the top order will be crucial while hinting the possibility of handing a debut to Trinidadian opener, Jeremy Solozano.
“I think the key is to have a good start. I think the top order is going to be crucial to build partnerships and again runs on the board is key so I think a good first innings total is key for us as a team to put pressure on the opponents,” he said.
Personally, Brathwaite admitted that there is always work to be done but is keen on improving his mental game and was always looking towards ways of improving.
Brathwaite is the most productive batsman for his side this year with 611 runs in 20 innings, averaging 30.5 but this average drops to 25 when playing against Sri Lanka.
Blackwood produced 595 runs in the same number of innings. Kyle Mayers also had a fluent year with 553 runs in 16 innings.
Earlier this year in the Caribbean, the two opponents played to a 0-0 draw in the two-Test series.
While both teams have won just one of their last five Tests, Sri Lanka holds the slightly better result with just one loss and three draws compared to West Indies’ three losses and a draw.
Sri Lanka will take some amount of confidence with the form of their captain, Dimuth Karunaratne who has scored 66, 118, 244 and 75 in his last four innings. He also averages 51.36 at Galle. Karunaratne is expected to face the new ball with Pathum Nissanka with Oshanda and the returning former captain, Angelo Mathews bolstering the top order.
With the conditions likely to favour spin, the hosts could bring in leggies, Lasith Embuldeniya and Praveen Jayawickrama to compleiment all-rounders, Dhananjaya de Silva and Ramesh Medis.
