‘We've got the fast bowlers to exploit the conditions’ - Angelo Mathews confident of Sri Lanka’s chances ahead of Day 5 against NZ

Courtesy of a sensational century from Angelo Mathews, Sri Lanka are in the driver’s seat after Day 4 of the ongoing first Test against New Zealand. The visiting side was under pressure after losing three quick wickets at the start of the second innings, but Mathews stepped up and bailed Sri Lanka out of all their troubles. Courtesy of his innings, Sri Lanka posted 302 runs on board in the second innings and now, the Tim Southee-led side needs 257 runs on the final day to get the job done.

However, it is not going to be easy for the hosts. Ahead of Day 5 of the match, Mathews stated that they have quality pacers in the ranks, who can exploit the conditions and help them win the match.

“We've got the fast bowlers to exploit the conditions. We've got some fantastic fast bowlers in the group, and we have the belief that if the batters get the runs on the board, the fast bowlers will definitely come into play, with the conditions. They've done exactly that.

We've given ourselves a great chance to win the Test match. We have to turn up tomorrow and just go for it. The game is evenly poised. Latham and Williamson - we all know they are world class. We need to strike early to get into the game. If we can open one end, we can put a lot of pressure on the Kiwis,” the 35-year-old said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

We had to keep grinding all day, which we did: Mathews

New Zealand were very disciplined with their line and length on Day 4 and thus, the visiting team had to grind hard to score more than 300 runs in the second innings. Matthews believes that the team showed a lot of composure but also applauded the Kiwi bowlers for not giving anything away.

“I know what kinds of conditions we are getting here. Credit should go to the New Zealand bowlers as well. After Neil Wagner got injured, the other three fast bowlers gave nothing away. It was hard work out there, but they kept pegging away, and we had to work extremely hard to get those runs. We had to keep grinding all day, which we did, I thought,” said the all-rounder.

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS App Store and Google Play Store