Kiwis slay Lankan spin demons

COLOMBO: Having buried the spin demons that were playing on their minds, New Zealand cricketers yesterday appeared confident of chasing their first series triumph in Sri Lanka in two decades.

The Kiwi batsmen might have killed any chance of producing a result in the series opener that ended in a draw on Tuesday through their dour batting and survival-first attitude, but skipper Stephen Fleming feels it helped to boost his young team’s confidence of battling Sri Lanka’s spinners, particularly the lethal Muttiah Muralitharan. Muralitharan’s 19 wickets in three Tests sent New Zealand crashing to a 2-1 series defeat after winning the opening Test during their last visit to the emerald island in 1998.

“We came over with a lot of young players and have gained experience in the match. It may have put to bed some of our demons against the wizard of Murali,” said Fleming, who had a fruitful outing and created a New Zealand milestone for most runs in a Test match. “The preparation for playing Murali paid dividends and I’m now confident in my technique how to play him,” said Fleming, who last week dubbed Muralitharan as the “biggest strikepower” in world cricket. Led by Fleming’s example, the New Zealand batsmen blunted Muralitharan by restricting their strokeplay and presenting a straight bat to every delivery.

Muralitharan still managed to bag five wickets — two in the first innings and three in the second — but they came after New Zealand had smothered Sri Lanka’s chances of clinching victory in their first home Test in one year. “My height and reach is an advantage and I’ve done a lot of work mentally on how I would play him, but others need to work out the technique that works best for them,” Fleming said yesterday as the Black Caps began focusing on the Second Test in Kandy, which begins Saturday. “There’s still work to do on in our technique, but we’re all the better for playing him,” he said. New Zealand, who have a 7-4 edge in Test encounters, have not won a Test series in Sri Lanka since a 2-0 triumph in the first series between the two countries two decades ago.