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Sangakkara heaps praise on Herath

Image: Herath: eight wickets in the match

Sri Lanka captain was delighted with the performance of left-arm spinner Rangana Herath in the second-Test win over New Zealand.

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Left-arm spinner bowls Sri Lanka to series triumph

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara was delighted with the performance of Rangana Herath during the 96-run victory over New Zealand in the second Test in Colombo. Left-arm spinner Herath claimed eight wickets in the match, including 5-139 in the second innings, as Sri Lanka sealed a 2-0 series whitewash. New Zealand, who began the final day on 182-6 in pursuit of 494, put up a spirited effort - including a career-best 140 from skipper Daniel Vettori - before eventually being bowled out for 397 just before tea. "Herath has been fantastic and the effort he put in bowling almost 50 overs was just incredible," said Sangakkara. "To come in as support for (Muttiah) Muralitharan and then for him to become our number one spinner in this Test match with his performance, I think it bodes very well for our future. "It goes to show that even if Muralitharan is not available for some games for us, we've got the bench strength in our spin department to win matches."

Confident

Sangakkara was always confident of clinching victory even while Vettori and Jacob Oram were putting on 124 for the seventh wicket. "We go into every game with the mindset to try to do everything to win it," he said. "It's great to see a lot of guys come into some good form with both bat and ball. "They've shown a lot of character, especially on the last day to fight through the weather." Muralitharan pulled up in the middle of an over with a groin strain in the morning and limped off the field before returning later in the day. "Hopefully Muralitharan will recover in time for the one-dayers," said Sangakkara. "It's not a major strain and the physio will be evaluating him. "First up is the Twenty20s and we've got to think long and hard about our combination and see who is available and who is fit. "One good thing is that we have a lot of young players in our A side with a lot of top quality. "So we just have got to pick the best side and hopefully win."
Inexperienced
Despite the result, Vettori was happy with the way his young and inexperienced side had played during the series. "At the start of the day we just wanted to show a little fight and put the runs on the board which we were capable off," said the Black Caps skipper. "Jake (Oram) and I had our responsibilities cut out this morning and I think we played pretty well. "Unfortunately we lost Jake just before lunch, otherwise we could have put a bit more pressure on them. "A number of our guys have come here to the subcontinent and seen how difficult it is. "But we've had a few good things that have come up for us. "We have shown we have some good fight in us and a number of our guys such as Martin Guptill, Tim McIntosh and Daniel Flynn played reasonably well here. "I think they'll take that experience on board and hopefully when we come back here the next time we'll be up for it." Earlier in the Test, Vettori became only the eighth player to achieve the rare double of 300 wickets and 3000 runs in Test cricket. The left-arm spinner said he was proud of achieving the milestone. "It's pleasing, especially if you look back at New Zealand's history and see that only Sir Richard Hadlee has been able to get there," he said. "Spin bowlers in New Zealand are not something that you have a lot of, so to be able to get to that milestone is something I'm very proud of."

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