Sehwag redux? - Iain O'Brien at Cricinfo

The next session I was a bit better, my five-over spell, in comparison, only going for 25; hardly economical, but it was better than my first spell. I picked up Dilshan in my third over of this spell; he cut a rather short, and shall we say, rank ball onto his stumps on 92 from 72 balls. A collective sigh of relief from us! It was like seeing the back of Sehwag!

This spell I found really tough. I was okay in my third over but the 4th and 5th I really started to overheat and was finding it really tough out there. I got through that spell and normally I’d cool down after a couple of overs in the field. I wasn’t. In fact I was starting to feel really average. I don’t like leaving the field but I had to today. My radiator wasn’t quite working right. I was off for around 20 minutes and in that time I had an ice jacket on, an ice pack on my head, neck, shoulders and feet. I was drinking everything in sight and sucking on ice cubes, doing all I could to cool down. After about 10 minutes I started feeling normal(ish) again and headed over to my seat to change my clothes. Fresh socks, trousers and a shirt, this time without the under layer vest top I had been wearing. I got back out there as soon as I could and felt a lot better by the time I got on the field.

At tea, Dan asked me how I was, and if I wanted to go again soon after the break. Of course I wanted another crack, “I got some figures to fix!” My third spell was probably my best one of the day although it was still more expensive than I’d want. The ball now was reversing a little and I was looking forward to see what I could get out of it. It went for me a bit and I was feeling pretty good; this was going to be my spell. I bowled as hard as I could and got some good bounce from good lengths, beat the edge a few times, got the edge a couple too; but not to hand. I went as hard as I could to change my day.

A great partnership between Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera got Sri Lanka through to early stumps as bad light set in. We are going to have to work harder and smarter again tomorrow to pull this innings back in our favour.

It was an ice bath at the ground straight after we finished and then back to the hotel for a massage; eat, type this and now bed time.

It might be too much for someone like me who chucks to advise you about bowling but it was strange to see you not getting the shape away from the right hander.Dilshan was good alright but dont you feel you could have bowled a bit on the good length to make hm drive uppishly..Having said that,take a rest.I am surprised how you wrote this much after a sapping day..South india ans srilanka can be demanding with top humidities and heat..Best of luck for tomorrow

Man I love nzl cricket so much that I cant bear to see it disappear with time, but face the reality - where is the passion of fleming?, where is my killer bond who singlehandedly slaughtered the toughest of the oppositions. It is the call of the time and we blackcapp lovers that u guys step up, give your everything, we are sick tired of winning only to Bangladesh, India thrashed us at home, england did same and now history is repeating. U guys did show a great spirit by commiting urselves to nz than ipl. this is the greatest sportsmanship i've ever noticed.But remember half of our team joined the ICL just for money.i love blackcaps so much that often i am alone in my school cheering u guys. but im sick tired of celebrating once in a blue moon.pls for god sake do make us proud.we are proud of u, u r my living idols, let keep this faith up.forzza blackcaps. all the best to u guys for whatever u do.Dan V u r my idol.

Find dilshen weakness. Do not bowl like robot. Dilshen is not sehwag. Dilshen has weakness. He is hyper active. He needs to swing harder to generate the bat speed compared to sehwag who uses gravity.

Just pack off side cover area , 3rd man...bowl incutters and crap him..he try to cut and mistimes.. perfect mix of slow ball..will do. Key is length..if u can bowl at blindspot..good swinging incutter will silence dilshen. Shewag also weakness...mathew hoggard did that...perfectly bowled tennis ball bounce..will get sehwag out everytime as his first instinct is try to lift the bouncing ball. Everyone have multiple weakness...All you have to do is get them at wrong foot..

I like obrien heart...he just need to use brain and out think...Best bowler uses the ground / air to create swing...not fingers..ball has to push through air like in baseball curveball and stuff..

Iain, you were a bit unlucky in your third spell, mate. Sri Lanka have done really well, 3 batsman have got decent scores but their batting on paper does look a bit suspect. Matthews is new to Test cricket and Prasanna Jayawardene only averages 25 with the bat. Thushara and Kulasekera are the hit and get out tailenders, followed by Murali and Mendis.

So if you can break the Jayawaredene/Samaraweera partnership then the rest could collapse, however if you don't then Mahela and Thilan could bat all day!

tough days play buddy. what can you do when you are hitting a (fairly fullish) good length and dilshan is seeing it as well as he has for the last 6 months. going to be a good effort to draw this test if you boys dont strike 4-5 good blows in the first session tomorrow. having spent 2 months in the region at this time last year i hear the somewhat valid points regarding the heat and humidity. i found it hard enough to drink a beer without breaking into a sweat. you can find solice in the fact 1 more wicket and you are into some inexperience and 3 more wickets the tails there for the taking. best of luck, keep blogging

Tilakaratne dilshan is such an aggressive batsman who tries to get runs of every ball,I think u havent bowled that bad but dilshan thrashed every full delivery and pulled any short ball

Black caps r in deep trouble now...Only batting can save NZ
As a NZ fan i want jesse or taylor to do same as dilshan to SL

And 1 question...why u guys r so crazy abt mckintosh,I dont find any good cricketer in him..even mills can bat better than him and if it is so then u can have an extra bowling action

Anyway Good luck for 2nd day

Sri Lanka is the most original of cricket teams. Watch -out for Dilshan's Dilscoop and Ajantha Mendis' Carrom Break - the third dimension in spin bowling after wrist spin [ leg breaks] / finger spin [off breaks]. Carrom breaks are neither wrist spin nor finger [off] spin. It is the flick of the fingers like a Carrom player flicking the disc on the board. Therefore Ajantha Mendis has created history by inventing the third category of spin - Carrom Spin.

Hello Iain, I was watching the game from California last night and I felt sorry for you for the 'slaughter' that Dilshan had on your bowling. However, at the end of the day, it was you who got his wicket. Congrat!. I know the weather there is not helping but get use to it and drink a lot of 'King coconut' -there are plenty around. It is like saline and somewhat sweet too. Enjoy the cricket and the stay in Sri Lanka. Go to upcountry and enjoy the best part of the weather in Sri Lanka. Cheers.

Hey Ian,

Dilshan is really overrated I feel. NZ's plan against him was wrong I believe. He might have the scoope and the switch hit and the lot but at the end of the day he only gets majority of his runs between the cover and gully regions.

I say pack the offside between gully and cover and bowl middle to just outside off stump. I can guarantee you he will still play his usual shots.
You have to dry out his boundaries to put pressure on him. Deep cover and deep gully is a must I think.

Good luck in the 2nd innings :)

You hardly need tips from a cricket novice. But I thought your third spell was simply great. I really loved the way it cut and swung, even McCullum had a hard time getting it right behind the stumps on a couple of occassions (*smile*). I must admit I'm cheering for Sri Lanka and I love your blogs, and I admire your spirit man. I must admit I found the idea of a cricketer blogging a bit tacky initially, it hasn't been done before most people don't know what to expect!, but you've been quite forthright, and continue to write strongly in face of criticism and jokes, both subtle and not-so-subtle from players and commentators of old. Keep going man, you're one of the brave new faces of modern cricket.

Hi there. Well, you do write very well, I should say. While reading what you wrote, I was actually able to picture it in my imaginations how Vettori would have approached you once you were back after the break and how you'd have responded. Well, you can definitely consider Freelance Sports Journalism while playing for NZ. Well, coming back to cricket, let me tell you that the Srilankans are a tough nut to crack on home turf. The Indians had a bad experience last time when they lost 2-1 to Murli and Ajantha Mendis. Beware of these guys because the tracks too are specially prepared for them. You perhaps may not get much to cheer about with the new ball. The older ball would surely reverse swing and therein lies your chance my friend. All the best. Dont give up.

OMG Brien Brien after a point it was merciless,FUnny,unrealistic lol !!! I am not sure wad u meant by "we bowled according to our plan" then NZ team tactics was totally flawed whatever it was!!! If pitching the ball up and making him drive was the plan u pitched it up tooo much it was rather ON THE SLAUGHT to be cracked even i wud haf had a crack at it !!!DO u even know ders somethin called an "Uncertainity zone" fer a batsmen I ve neva seen u bowl there mate !!! Need some major reworkings !!! Convey my regards to DAN the MAN hez one NZ'er I admire !!! ;)

Everyone tries his or her best. So you do yours. At the end of the day, better players shines. 125 for 2. Well.. at least you had two wickets. Try to gain experience & that’s all what matters right now.
I personally don’t think NZ is going to do well in SL. And that was the sentiment of almost everyone before the series & no one should get their hopes high as soon as a wicket falls or a boundary is hit! This is life & especially cricket….remember you are playing against current ICC ranking # 3.

looking at Dilshan batting its look like, we were not in test match any more and especially test match where Geof Boycott wast batting, I like seeing people scoring run and helping wickets for Bowlers, where they can get some bounce and movement and later on spinner can test batsman as well, But one thing is for sure runs always matter no matter how they come and which format your playing. Ian i think you guys have to work hard to get any thing out of this Test series, as SL as best spinn bowling attack in world now a days. I would love to see how Rose Taylor/Brendon going to handle these guys.
Good Luck

Hey hey Sakthi, Easy pal. Your rhetoric is best left for the nouveau impatient feeding on the T20 or its mama - the NFL. Dunno where you hail from but us Srinkies watch cricket first and watch our country next. This dude did his best. He was bowling better and better as the day wore on and the bench is really far away as far as Mike is concerned. I won't be surprised if he does even better tomorrow. As he rightly points out, this was a good toss to loose. Tough call and it may have definitely hit NZ where it hurts but that's the name of the game. The real test is how you play a bad hand brilliantly and that, at least for me, is only possible in the long version, is the reason for the infinite joy of watching quality test cricket and what test cricket is all about. Cheers!