At the post-day press conference, Sri Lanka’s spin bowling coach Piyal Wijetunge gave an honest assessment of the bowling performance by the Sri Lankan on day one of the 1st test in Galle yesterday. 

Responding to a question from the media regarding Ramesh Mendis’ performance, Wijetunage said: “He was inconsistent and leaking runs with a run rate above 4 runs per over. There are some technical errors in his actions and Ramesh is taking too long to correct these. I have been working with him very closely during the last two months but I have realized that he is taking a long time to rectify these compared to other players and we have given so many chances to him.”

Responding to The Daily Morning Sport questions regarding how the team reacted when the runs started flowing, Wijetunge said: “We didn’t react well to it. We should have changed our strategies according to the pitch conditions but it just didn’t happen. We should have blocked the runs and created pressure but it didn't happen from our bowlers.”