Mahela Jayawardene finds fault with England's tactics

Mahela Jayawardene executes the pull shot after getting used to the line and length

Sri Lankan middle-order batsmen Mahela Jayawardene with his side on the verge of a historic win against England has questioned the home side’s tactics and field placements in their second innings of the second Test match. He added that over-doing the short ball stuff backfired and they used that to tease the young English batsmen walking in.

“We were telling a couple of their batsmen, their idea of hitting us on the head probably doesn’t work. We got a few hits on our bodies, but I’m sure tomorrow afternoon we will have a good laugh about it.

“They were quite chirpy but quieter after the first hour or so. That’s part of the game. We know who’s on top and who’s not – they probably got quite a few when they came out to bat and they’ll definitely get some more in the morning as well. Under pressure they’re not quite up to it so we will definitely be looking forward to tomorrow morning. They will get some,” Jayawardene said.

The former Sri Lankan captain expressed his sympathies for Alastair Cook but conceded that he is not helping it by engaging in spats with former cricketers.

“I feel for him but it doesn’t help when you have arguments with commentators and past cricketers. That’s something you can’t control. Try to control what is out there for you. Forget about things you can’t control and control things you can,” he said pointing towards Cook’s response to Shane Warne, who called for more aggression from the left-hander.

On this England tour that has seen many tough days of cricket apart from few controversial incidents: “It was always going to be a challenging tour. Things happened, we’re quite comfortable the way we handled them. We played (in the) right spirit, fairly. We were braced for some of the backlash, held ourselves together,” said the right-hander.

“It’s been a long season for us. We haven’t stopped since last December. If we can get an away Test series win as well, that would cap it off,” expressed the 37-year-old on their successful Asia Cup and World T20 campaign.

Praising his captain Angelo Mathews on his attacking 160 that presented Sri Lanka the opportunity for a win, the senior batsmen called him as a natural leader.

“One of the best I’ve ever seen. He is a natural leader. We’ve noticed that and made a conscious decision to give him the reins. He knows how to handle pressure, he’s quite calm,” stated Jayawardene.

Sri Lanka need five wickets on the last day of the second Test match to win their first Test series in English soil.