It won't be pretty, but score runs: Mathews

Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews has urged his team-mates to aim to bat long and grind it out to press forth their advantage over India in the opening Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

On the third day of the Test on Saturday (November 18), Mathews combined with Lahiru Thirimanne to add 99 in a third-wicket partnership that lifted pressure off the visiting side after it had been reduced to 34 for 2. Mathews’s 52 off 94 balls included eight fours, and was the result of him playing a sensible game after its seamers had run through the Indian top order in favourable conditions.

It marked a solid return to international cricket after injury kept him out of Sri Lanka’s series against Pakistan.

It has been, in his own words, a “frustrating” year for Mathews. A slump in his side’s form saw him relinquish captaincy, but on a personal front as well, he has been left battling injuries that have seen him in and out of the Sri Lankan team, and he has become more of a batsman than an allrounder. So, with the side looking to him to be the senior player guiding the batting group, his half-century on Saturday would have come as a good sign.

Mathews credited both physical and mental preparation for regaining his rhythm. “To get into rhythm, every cricketer who is coming after injury has to work a lot,” he told reporters after the third day’s play. “I had a good two-month lay-off. I had a good preparation mentally and physically. I am in good shape and hopefully I can carry on doing a good job for the Sri Lankan team in the next few games.”

At 30, all the cricket was taking a toll on his body, he admitted. “I have to manage my workload.

“I temporarily stopped bowling in Tests to manage the work load. We will see how it goes. Yes, as of now I am playing as a batsman.”

At stumps, Sri Lanka was just seven runs behind India’s first-innings 172, with six wickets in hand, and well placed for a healthy lead. Yet, Mathews didn’t want Sri Lanka to get lax and urged it to be prepared to take on a quality Indian pace attack. “You can’t take the foot off the gas. You have got to try and score as many runs as possible. You do not know on this wicket what kind of score is enough or what kind of lead is enough,” he said.

He was also kicking himself for missing out on a big score. “I can’t be thinking of me being the premier batsman and former captain. All are equal,” he said. “We have to go out there and take responsibility and try and score as many runs as possible. Fifties are not going to do any good to anyone. Not for me and not for my team. If we get a start we need to go onto get a big one.”

The Eden Gardens pitch has eased up from what the Indians had to bat on during the rain-hit first two days of the Test. It still required concentration, with the batsmen having to “forget about the last ball and try and score many as possible, wait for the loose ball and then score runs”, said Mathews. His own wicket was not a case of lapse of concentration, he said. “I was looking to score runs. It’s just that it stopped a little bit, but no excuse. I should have left it alone maybe. I was looking to score runs. You can’t hang in there forever.

“On this wicket you will get a good ball and you tend to get out. All in all it’s about runs. You have got to score runs. It won’t be pretty. You can’t be fluent on this wicket. You have got to grind and try and score runs,” he added.