“Very tough, on the wrong side of a tough one:” Tim Southee after losing against Sri Lanka
News Mania Desk /Sohom Chatterjee/ 30th September 2024
New Zealand Men’s national team skipper Tim Southee shared his disappointment on September 29, Sunday, as they lost the second match of the two-match test series against Sri Lanka at Galle. The veteran bowler spoke about the difficulties his team faced on the subcontinent.
“Very tough, on the wrong side of a tough one,” Southee remarked after the match in the post-match presentation, highlighting the struggles his players encountered throughout the match.
The Lankan team batted first and scored a mountain of 602/5. After declaring their first innings, their bowling lineup demolished the New Zealand batting order within 88 runs. Following up, New Zealand were still trailing by 514 runs. And again their run-scoring efforts fell short as they were folded within 360. SL won the match by an innings and 154 runs.
Emphasizing on the unique challenges of playing in these conditions, he said that “this is a tough place to come.”
He also pointed out that even though his team could’ve performed better in this match, they had opportunities in the first game also. “I think in this match it was a lot harder, but in the first game we could have pushed on a bit harder,” he stated.
Prior to the India tour, the pacer and his team will be focusing on regrouping as a team. “Need to go home, regroup and go again,” Southee stated, signalling their eagerness to bounce back from the setback.
He also drew a parallel on how similar the conditions in India and Sri Lanka are by saying, “India is very similar to this part of the world.”
Sri Lankan spinner Prabath Jayasuriya once again had a five-wicket haul (6/42) which increased his tally of five-wicket hauls at Galle to eight. Kamindu Mendis got the ‘Player of the Match’ for his amazing batting performance (182 in 250 balls, with 16 fours and four sixes). Prabath took the ‘Player of the Series’ award home after taking 18 wickets in this series.
New Zealand will be playing their first Test match in India on October 16.
