Mahela Jayawardene: Pitch conditions necessitate a change in approach

The first three matches of the Coca-Cola Cup have been won by the side batting first and this has attracted plenty of discussion. The general feeling is that the pitches have deteriorated in the latter part of the game and have assisted the slower bowlers more.

Whilst one cannot deny that the pitch deteriorated significantly in the New Zealand-India game we feel that the spinners were actually harder to play in the afternoon. In the evening the spinning ball came onto the bat a little, perhaps because of some extra moisture, whereas in the afternoon the ball stopped and it was quite hard to time the slower bowlers.

The faster bowlers, however, have been more dangerous under the lights. The ball has darted around a little off the seam and swung through the air. This has made it important for the faster bowlers to make inroads in the opening overs. We managed to in both games and that was a key ingredient in our success.

Low scores have dominated the tournament so far and there are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, the Premadasa wickets have been slower than expected and slightly two paced, making shot making harder than in the recent past.

Secondly, all the sides have fielded and bowled well, whilst they have under performed with the bat. We, for example, have yet to click as a batting unit - which in a way is a positive sign because we have won both games without firing on all cylinders.

Personally, I feel that I misread the wicket and have failed twice because I opted to go for my shots too early. I will adjust my game plan accordingly for the next two matches at Premadasa. The boundaries are going to be difficult to come by and we are going to have to work much harder, making sure that we pick up plenty of singles and twos

The India game was a really tough one and we were naturally delighted to have won it, having kept our heads in the final overs. There was plenty of pressure out there in the middle and a lot of credit has to go to the bowlers, who appeared relatively unfazed.

Whilst Ganguly and Dravid remained at the wicket we knew we were in trouble, but realised that it only took one slip up and we were back in business. If one of them fell, then the initiative would shift back to us and so it proved.

When Ganguly top edged that sweep Reetinder Sodhi and Virender Shewag were under the cosh and displayed a little inexperience as they tried to take the attack to Murali, who once again showed just how valuable an asset he can be. If they had just seen him off, it could have been a completely different story.

If Sodhi and Shewag had stayed at the wicket then Dravid may have been able to turn up the tempo. When they were both dismissed, however, he knew that he had to stay there till the end, but they just ran out of steam as our bowlers made it very difficult for them to score boundaries.

The absence of Sachin Tendulkar has probably affected the Indian team. Some players have been shunted up and down the batting order and there does not appear to be much confidence as to what their best batting order is.

The loss of key players is though part and parcel of international cricket. All teams lose players to injuries and you just have to get on with it. I'm sure that India will settle down and, if they do, they will be a threat because though they lack experience they are not hesitant and play a very aggressive and dangerous brand of cricket.

The next three games will not be played under lights so we can expect conditions to change and possibly some higher scores. From a personal point of view I'm certainly hoping to cash in and make up for my two low scores so far.