GALLE, July 30 (AP): A confident Sri Lanka, which handed India one of its worst ever defeats last week, goes into the second Test Thursday aiming to put an early seal on the three-match series. Sri Lanka won the first Test by an innings and 239 runs, inflicting India's worst innings defeat since their 1974 loss against England by an innings and and 285 runs. "We are confident with the way we played and we want to go full strength and wrap up the series," Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene told reporters ahead of the match at Galle International Stadium.
"We asked them some questions and they didn't have the answers (in the first match) and we need to find out whether they will have the answers for this Test match," Jayawardene said. Sri Lanka's spin twins, veteran Muttiah Muralitharan and rookie Ajantha Mendis, shared 19 wickets between themselves to steer the hosts to the crushing first Test win.
India captain Anil Kumble said losing the first Test had not killed the confidence of his team.
"We will definitely approach this match in a positive way the series is still alive," Kumble said.
Kumble's faith in the capacity of the side to strike back was reflected by the likely retention of the same XI that was so badly beaten in Colombo, while Sri Lanka was also expected to maintain its winning combination.
Sri Lanka squad:
Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Michael Vandort, Malinda Warnapura, Kumar Sangakkara, Thilan Samar aweera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Prasanna Jayawardene, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Nuwan Kulasekera, Chamara Silva, Thilan Thushara, Chamara Kapugedera, Dammika Prasad
India squad:
Anil Kumble (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Dinesh Karthik, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, RP Singh, Rohit Sharma, Parthiv Patel, Pragyan Ojha, Munaf Patel.
