Pothas pins pitch after poor performance

Sri Lanka interim coach Nic Pothas feels a pitch that flattened out was behind Zimbabwe’s fightback on day three of the one-off Test.
The Lankans had reduced Zimbabwe to 23/4 before Sikandar Raza led a rally that saw the visitors end the day on 252/6 leading by 262 runs.
Pothas refused to hang his players out to dry saying after play: “You’ve got to give credit to our players as well as the opposition.
“Once the hardness went out of the ball, it obviously became a bit more difficult, and it spun less than yesterday. I thought Raza played really well, as did PJ Moor and Waller.
“But our guys were phenomenal. They did their jobs. I thought the quality of the fielding was superb. It hasn’t been easy, but we’ll get up again tomorrow morning, try to get a few quick wickets, and then chase a score.”
ALSO READ: ODI series boost lifts Zimbabwe
Pothas felt the softer ball wasn’t turning as much as the new cherry and feels this aided the Zimbabwe rearguard action.
He added: “The pitch has changed quite a bit. Once the hardness went out of the ball today, it didn’t seem like it did as much as yesterday.
“Yesterday and day one the ball spun. At the end of the day we’re playing in the subcontinent and wickets spin. You just need to come up with plans to score, and how you’re going to get wickets. Today it was surprising that it didn’t do as much as expected, but we just need to find a way of getting wickets.”
Pothas praised the diligence of his troops and feels that on the whole the team is making progress and playing quite well.
He went on: “The amount of work those guys put in behind the scenes, and the effort they are putting in today with a soft ball, and a wicket that’s not conducive to fast bowling – I thought they did a fantastic job on it.
“If we’re going to keep judging them, we need a bit of perspective. I think under the conditions they did a great job.”
Sri Lanka have been heavily criticized for their fielding with the Champions Trophy match against Pakistan a glaring bad spot but Pothas, the fielding coach under Graham Ford, feels they have made progress in this area.
He said: “Are we judging them on one hour against Pakistan? I think we need to be careful on that, because in the first innings I thought we fielded phenomenally well. I think in general, we’ve been pretty harsh on them even when they put in good performances.
“I don’t think they get enough credit for it. When we played against South Africa at The Oval, I thought we fielded brilliantly. We fielded brilliantly against India.
“Then we had an hour of madness at the end of the Pakistan game, which was unfortunate. Since then we’ve done some pretty good stuff in the field, so I think we need to be a bit careful with always looking at the negative part of their fielding.”
Latest
-
News
Joe Root promises England will learn lessons from India rout
An innings defeat in Ahmedabad rounded off a 3-1 series loss.
-
News
India v England, day 3: Tourists left in a spin once again as series slips away
Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel continued their outright domination of England and helped seal a 3-1 series win.
-
News
England left to lick their wounds as India condemn them to another defeat
Joe Root’s men had no answers.
-
News
More woe for England as India’s spin twins push hosts towards series victory
Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel claimed three wickets each as the tourists slumped to 91 for six at tea.
-
News
England’s top order crumble once again as India take a firm grip on fourth Test
The tourists were reduced to 30 for four having conceded a first-innings lead of 160.
-
News
India extends lead to 160 on third morning in Ahmedabad
While Washington Sundar was stranded on 96 not out, the hosts increased the pressure on England in the fourth Test.
-
News
England accused of throwing Dom Bess ‘under the bus’
The spinner struggled on his return to the side.
-
News
India v England, day 2: Ben Stokes efforts fail to turn tide in England’s favour
Rishabh Pant’s remarkable century and the folly of England’s imbalanced attack left India in full control.
-
News
Brilliant Rishabh Pant century gives India stranglehold in Ahmedabad
Pant built to a brilliant 101 as he changed the complexion of the game.
-
News
I was told to ‘die in a hole’ – Alex Hartley reveals online abuse over tweet
The former England international received a barrage of abuse over a tongue-in-cheek post.