Atapattu banks on spin attack for winning start

Sri Lankan skipper Marvan Atapattu today said he hoped to make full use of the spin-friendly pitch here in the first Test against South Afri...

Sri Lankan skipper Marvan Atapattu today said he hoped to make full use of the spin-friendly pitch here in the first Test against South Africa.

8220;Starting at Galle always gives us an advantage as this pitch helps spinners. I hope we can make the most of our experience here and win the match,8221; said Atapattu.

The first of two Tests starts here tomorrow with the second match slated in Colombo next week. The Test series will be followed by a series of five one-dayers.

8220;Ideally, I would have liked to play one-dayers before the Tests but one has to learn to adjust fast to both forms of the game,8221; said Atapattu, who took over Test captaincy from Hashan Tillakaratne earlier this year.

Sri Lanka, who played a two-Test series in Australia last month, had to adjust quickly to the shorter version as they came back home to participate in the Asia Cup one-day tournament.

They beat India in the day-night final on Sunday to lift the Cup and are again playing a Test less than three full days later.

Atapattu felt the South Africans could not be taken lightly.

Story continues below this ad

8220;They have done well both at home and abroad over the years. They may not be at their best at the moment but not very long back they were head to head with Australia.8221;

Atapattu said his team8217;s composition had not been decided though Romesh Kaluwitharana was sure to keep wickets.

8220;Kumar Sangakkara is batting well at the moment so we will leave him out of wicket-keeping and let him concentrate on batting. That leaves four spots for the bowlers and we may play two or even three spinners.8221;

Sri Lanka8217;s only win in 13 Tests against South Africa has come at this venue, where star off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has a huge tally of 82 wickets in 10 Tests.

Story continues below this ad

South African captain Graeme Smith conceded it would be hard matching up to the Sri Lankans on the Galle wicket.

8220;The pitch looks dry and has some cracks on it but that is only what we expected. We have our backs towards the wall but we have to be positive, try to get some things right and fight it out,8221; said Smith.

8220;Sri Lanka usually win their games in Galle, so it8217;s going to be a challenge for us. The match may not last a full five days on this pitch and it8217;s definitely going to be an advantage batting first,8221; he added.

Smith said the team management was 8220;pretty close8221; to deciding the combination for the match but would only announce it tomorrow morning.