Jayawardene hands bowlers credit for Sri Lanka win

COLOMBO, July 31 (Reuters) Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene paid tribute to his bowlers after his team wrapped up and innings and 153 runs victory against South Africa in the first test today.

Jayawardene was named the Man of the Match for his magnificent 374 but he heaped credit on his bowlers for taking 20 South African wickets on a very docile pitch.

''The credit must go to the bowlers because the conditions were not easy for them at all,'' Jayawardene said.

''No matter what records had been broken it would not have mattered a great deal if we didn't get the result we wanted,'' he added.

''We knew the South Africans were going to be tough to crack in the last two days and they fought really hard.'' Muttiah Muralitharan took six for 131 in the second innings to finish with 10-172 in the match, his 17th 10-wicket haul.

''Muralitharan was exceptional, never tiring despite bowling 60-odd overs, but the quicks also stuck to their tasks well on what was a very flat pitch,'' said Jayawardene.

''The turning point was getting Ashwell Prince in the second over, which gave us a lot of breathing space.'' Jayawardene said Chaminda Vaas's hamstring injury had healed sufficiently for him to play in the second and final test starting on Friday.

The captain added: ''He is fit and bowling well in the nets (but) there are one or two niggles around and we'll probably make changes for the second test.'' Stand-in South Africa captain Prince said: ''We had our backs to the wall it was typical of the South Africa style to come back with a fight - I thought the guys showed a lot of character in the second innings.

''There were too many soft dismissals in the first innings. But the longer this game went on the bowlers got better and the batsmen adjusted to the conditions so there were some positives to come out of this game.'' South Africa coach Micky Arthur said: ''Australia in Australia and Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka are probably the two toughest tours in the world but a tour like this gives invaluable exposure to hostile conditions.

''We lost Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock who have about 250 caps between them, which is a huge amount of experience to lose.

''Once we get out major players back in the test and ODI teams we'll be a force. We have a plan and we are working towards it every day.'' REUTERS AY RK1805