Wellington have spent a few bob having a commemorative vase knocked up for Kumar Sangakkara.
Presumably Canterbury Cricket did too, as the Sri Lankan superstar neared the monumental milestone of 12,000 test runs.
Canterbury’s stayed in its box, when scores of six and one at Hagley Oval left the 37-year-old five runs short of becoming the fifth man to go past the mark.
But listening to Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews talk, there seems little chance Sangakkara will leave the Basin Reserve without a big score or a little something to grace the pool room.
“When he fails, it’s a coach’s nightmare,” Mathews said of the stylish left-hander.
“You have to throw [balls to him] for hours and hours, and he’s a very hard worker.
“He’s been working really hard in the nets and he’s desperate to go out there and get some runs, and I’m pretty sure he’ll do it.”
Sangakkara’s contributions will be critical to any hope Sri Lanka have of ending this series tied at 1-1.
Without Mahela Jayawardene, who has retired from test cricket, their batting was brittle during the eight-wicket first-test loss in Christchurch.
Sangakkara is soon to join his great mate, and business partner, in retirement and is too good to quietly slip away.
Mathews said the team’s first-innings efforts – with bat and ball – at Hagley were not up to test match standard and a marked improvement was required in Wellington.
The conditions are unlikely to suit the batting side of that equation, with Mathews moved to say that the pitch was so under-prepared by lunchtime yesterday that he could not hazard a guess about how it might play.
All he knew was that batting would be difficult and everyone had to be better than they were when New Zealand rolled them for 138, in their opening turn at bat in the first test.
“They’re one of the best attacks [in world cricket], especially in New Zealand when the ball is swinging and seaming,” said Mathews.
