Hosts haunted by poor record at Kandy

Two of these four victories came during successive series against the West Indies and Zimbabwe, which were part of Sri Lanka’s nine-Test home winning sequence that culminated with the draw in Colombo earlier this week.

New skipper Hashan Tillakaratne, who took over the captaincy for this series after Sanath Jayasuriya’s resignation, rejects suggestions that Kandy is a jinxed Test venue for Sri Lanka.

“It is just that we have not played well in some matches here, but I don’t read too much into our past performance,” said Tillakaratne, on the eve of the second and last Test against the Kiwis.

“I don’t believe there is anything like a jinxed venue, the result of every Test depends on how you perform,” added Tillakaratne, who wants an improved performance from his lineu after a spate of dropped catches allowed the New Zealanders to overcome their hesitation against spin.

The missed chances in Colombo ended Sri Lanka’s victory sequence of nine home Tests, which began with the final Test of the 2001 series against India in Colombo that gave it a 2-1 series triumph.

Riding on the success of its spin bowlers, particularly ace tweaker Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka expectedly trounced minnow Bangladesh in two Tests before inflicting 3-0 defeats on the West Indies and Zimbabwe in the same season.

He said the pitch at Colombo’s Saravanamuttu Stadium was “tailor-made for batsmen” and offered little assistance to the bowlers, who toiled in vain with no support from the fielders.

The home team’s last two victories at Kandy, against low-quality opposition, came after successive Test losses to South Africa, England and India.

The Black Caps, who have been amused at Sri Lanka’s indifferent Kandy record despite its otherwise dominant home performance, is drawing confidence from the 165-run triumph in its only previous outing here.