“I am shell-shocked as much as the entire country, it was like an earthquake which struck us in Hamilton for 13 overs,” Jayaratne told the Daily News.

“We were no wickets in 24 overs done all the hard work and then bowled out in 13 more overs, a total of 37 overs. From the position we were in there was no way this could have happened after all the planning we had done and, this young lot almost consistent in getting nearly 300 runs every time we batted.

“I just don’t know what happened this was never the plan can’t believe from where all the batsman decided to pull out their hook shots which cannot be controlled in these conditions against experienced bowlers. We just needed one last good effort from our batsmen to be competitive in the match and maybe we could have even won the game and levelled the series,” he said. Having taken a first innings lead of 55 runs Sri Lanka were nicely riding along at 71 for no wicket enjoying an overall lead of 126 with all ten wickets in hand when New Zealand decided to change tactics and started bowling short-pitched deliveries at them.

“The only conclusion I could imagine was that the batters were not confident of themselves and they doubted their own ability and technique under pressure,” said Jayaratne. “They were not mentally strong to weather the storm of the New Zealand fast bowlers’ short pitched bowling. At 72 for no wickets it did not seem like we were going to lose a wicket and New Zealand were running out of options when they decided to attack our batsman with short pitched bowling.

“We had spoken about this even the day before very well knowing that they would give us the same medicine we gave them on the second day. We had trained for this as we knew even before we set foot on New Zealand soil that we would counter this scenario. We were up to it till that time we had negotiated this form of attack well. Even our bowlers when they batted came good and we consistently were closing upon 300 runs every time we bated in the series,” he said.

Commenting on Udara Jayasundara’s controversial dismissal where he was given out by the third umpire after the onfield umpire had negatived the appeal for a catch behind the wicket, Jayaratne said, “We did check this up with the match referee David Boon and what he said was that Richard Kettleborough made this decision saying that on the slow motion replay he did see a movement of the glove. “He overruled the onfield decision of the umpire, hot spot and also the snickometer. Very strange to overturn all that evidence and make a call that he had conclusive evidence that there was movement of the glove. This was a game changer decision if we had not lost Udara at that time we wouldn’t have lost Chandimal who also got out before lunch in the space of ten minutes.”

KUSAL PERERA MISSED

Looking ahead at the five-match one-day international series starting in Christchurch on Boxing Day, Jayaratne rued the absence of their flamboyant opener Kusal Perera who was sent home after failing a dope test.

“I actually don’t know how badly his absence will affect the team. I know that the upfront combination is pretty dented, we know how devastating he can be and he also is a cricketer who can win you matches single-handed,” said Jayaratne.

“He was the man of the series in our recent series against West Indies we are going to miss him for sure.

However we also know that we may have to move on without his presence and I believe we need to regroup and find a new combination that would work for us at this stage.”

Sri Lanka are rebuilding following the retirement of their batting greats, Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara, within the space of a year.

The West Indies, already hit by the reluctance of senior pros like Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo to play Test cricket, faced further turmoil when coach Phil Simmons was stood down for the tour for speaking out against his board’s selection policies.

Former fast bowler and selector Eldine Baptiste, who will serve as interim coach for the tour, will try to ease newly-appointed Test captain Jason Holder into the role.

Holder, a 23-year-old all-rounder who has played just eight Tests, was a surprise choice to replace the seasoned Denesh Ramdin as captain.

“We have a very young team and a young captain,” Baptiste said. “My job is to keep the team focused for the Test matches.”

The West Indies are searching for their maiden Test win on Sri Lankan soil, where they have played nine matches since 1993 — losing five and drawing the other four.

Both teams will look to bounce back after a lacklustre year.

The West Indians lost to South Africa and Australia, while the home series against England was drawn 1-1.

Angelo Mathews’ Sri Lanka crashed to a 2-0 series defeat in New Zealand and lost home series to Pakistan and India by identical 2-1 margins.

Like their rivals, Sri Lanka too have an interim coach in Jerome Jayaratne, who was given charge of the team after Marvan Atapattu resigned in the wake of the defeat against India.

Jayaratne, who did not play international cricket but made his mark as head of the Sri Lankan board’s coaching department, has already described Mathews’ boys as the “worst fielding side in Asia”.

He refused to take victory for granted against the young touring side.

“I would like to believe that we have a better chance of getting back to winning ways, but I definitely won’t underestimate them,” he said.

Only two players from either side have played more than 50 Tests — Mathews and Rangana Herath for Sri Lanka and batsman Marlon Samuels and Ramdin for the West Indies.

Herath, the 37-year-old left-arm spinner, could prove to be the difference when the first Test starts at the picturesque Galle International Stadium, a venue that traditionally favours spin.

Herath took seven for 48 against India in August, helping Sri Lanka bounce back to win that Test by 63 runs.

In June Pakistani spin twins Yasir Shar and Zulfiqar Babar combined to grab 13 wickets between them as Sri Lanka suffered a 10-wicket defeat at the same venue.

In the absence of star spinner Sunil Narine, who was not picked for the Tests, the West Indies will rely on leg-break bowler Devendra Bishoo, who has claimed 50 wickets in 13 Tests so far.

Sri Lanka’s batting in the absence of Jayawardene and Sangakkara will revolve around skipper Mathews, who hit three centuries in the home Tests against Pakistan and India.

Sri Lanka (from) – Angelo Mathews (capt), Lahiru Thirmanne, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Rangana Herath, Dhammika Prasad, Kusal Perera, Dushmantha Chameera, Nuwan Pradeep, Tharindu Kaushal, Suranga Lakmal, Dilruwan Perera, Milinda Siriwardena, Kusal Mendis.

West Indies (from) – Jason Holder (capt), Kraig Brathwaite, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Rajendra Chandrika, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Shai Hope, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Jomel Warric