Skipper Angelo Mathews heaped praise on century-maker Kusal Mendis after Sri Lanka pulled off a shock 106-run win against top-ranked Australia in the rain-hit first Test here on Saturday.
Sri Lankan spinners, led by Rangana Herath, played a major part in the team’s first Test win against Australia for 17 years, but it was Mendis who sparked a turnaround for the hosts.
“The wicket was assisting the spinners and Rangana Herath proved his brilliance,” added Mathews, who was “relieved” to get a victory after a disastrous England series that saw them lose the Tests, ODIs and the one-off Twenty20.
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The enormity of the unlikely triumph was also felt when Sri Lankan President offered special congratulations to Mendis.
“Congratulations to the Sri Lankan Cricket team for the fantastic win today. Special congratulations to Kusal Mendis,” President Maithripala Sirisena said on twitter.
“It’s pleasing to beat them after 17 long years. This is a very strong Australian team as well and they are ranked No. 1. I was a little kid when we won the last time,” said Mathews.
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“Sandakan is a brilliant find for us. We knew that the wicket was going to take turn and Sandakan responded brilliantly,” said Mathews.
“Tough week, credit to Sri Lanka the way they played. We let ourselves down with the bat, we weren’t disciplined with the bat. Credit to Kusal, his 176 turned the game,” said Smith.
“Anything above 260 on this wicket was always going to be difficult. It’s tough to lose O’Keefe but that’s cricket. Pretty proud about the way Nevill and O’Keefe fought hard in the end. We were trying to stick around as much as possible and force a draw but that wasn’t to be,” he added.
Skipper Steven Smith blamed Australia’s “lack of discipline” on the batting front for the defeat. “We did quite well to bowl them out for 117, but we lacked a bit of discipline in our batting,” said Smith, who had to swallow a bitter first defeat as Test captain in his 12th match.
“We were in a good position to get a bigger lead than 86, but didn’t get that,” said a disappointed Smith.
“Kusal Mendis played an outstanding innings and took the game away from us. 267 against quality spinners was going to be tough task and we weren’t up to that,” said Smith.
Smith admitted that Australia, which trails the three-match series, will have to find a way to tackle the spinning conditions.
Australia’s last outing to the sub-continent saw it lose all four Tests against India in 2013 and it also lost both matches when Pakistan hosted it for a two-Test series in 2014 in the Gulf.
“We have got to find our plans and find ways to play in these conditions. One-zero down in a three-match series, so have to turn it around quickly,” said Smith.