Sri Lanka’s Head Coach Sanath Jayasuriya believed that dismissing Joe Root cheaply in both innings in the third Test at The Oval was the game changer.
Root, who averages 67 in Tests against Sri Lanka, was a thorn in the flesh to the opposition with a match winning half-century at Old Trafford and hundreds in each innings at Lord’s where England won by 190 runs.
Jayasuriya told journalists that his team had spent considerable time discussing how to dismiss Joe Root cheaply and that it paid off.
“We always wanted his wicket early and spoke about it several times what we should be doing to dismiss him for a low score. We knew that if we had got Root early, England would struggle as they bat around him,” Jayasuriya said.
“So, we developed this strategy where we went wide off Root’s off-stump not giving much room to play his shots and feel comfortable. Then we bowled the short ball and with runs not flowing off his bat he took that ball on and was caught in the deep. The other strategy was to bowl a good Yorker. It worked perfectly. Vishwa Fernando sent down a Yorker that swung in late and Root had no chance. From that point on we believed that we are going to win this game,” Jayasuriya explained.