Sri Lanka bowler Nuwan Kulasekara believes learning to swing the ball away allowed him to excel against Pakistan.
Seamer says out-swinger the secret behind good performance
Sri Lanka seamer Nuwan Kulasekara says that his new-found ability to deliver out-swinging deliveries was behind his side's success on day one of the second Test against Pakistan.
The 26-year-old took four for 21, including three wickets at the top of the innings, as Pakistan were skittled for just 90 runs in Colombo.
The tourists never recovered and Sri Lanka took advantage to end the day on 164 for three, already 74 runs ahead.
Kulasekara, who stepped-up to the role of strike bowler following Lasith Malinga's injury and Chaminda Vaas' loss of form, says he will add even more dimensions to his game in the future.
"I normally like to bowl in-swingers to right handed batsmen, that's my natural delivery," he said.
"But I've achieved a lot of success ever since I learnt to straighten the ball and swing it away. I haven't tried too many variations such as the yorkers and the slower delivery in Tests.
Experiment
"That's something I do regularly in one-dayers, but I didn't need to experiment too much here. Getting wickets in Test cricket is a lot of hard work. But this morning things worked out well."
He added that the work of the Sri Lanka bowling coaches also contributed to his vastly improved performance against Pakistan.
"I've received a lot of help from the coaching staff, especially the bowling coaches Anusha Samaranayake and Prabath Nissanka," he added.
"They have worked really hard with me, and I'm very thankful for their inputs."
Pakistan batsman Misbah-ul-Haq was understandably dismayed by the performance of his team, citing the psychological effects of losing the first Test as a reason for the collapse.
"It's very disappointing when you are performing like that," he said. "First match, we were in a position to win and suddenly we lost. It does affect the team. We are looking forward to just come back in this game and try to bowl them out quickly tomorrow.
"It happens in cricket, especially with Pakistan. I don't want to take any credit away from the bowlers."
