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by Rohan Wijeyaratna Russel Arnold, that tall, dark, lean and unobtrusive man usually happy loitering in the shadows was thrust into the limelight as he stole the thunder last Sunday in no unmistakable style helping his side in the process to snuff the life out of India with an all round vehemence seldom seen. Sri Lanka batted like champions, bowled like champions and fielded like champions. And when that happens in unison and the opposition caves in the way it did, the whole thing could sometimes seem rather boring and anti-climatic. And so it was. The win was, from the point of view of a spectacle, rather too facile and one sided to be cherished for too long. If you are playing one day cricket with the fervour that we do, this is the way to play it. To lose just four or five wickets or less and certainly no more when batting through the fifty overs, and then skittling the opposition out in next to nix with clinical precision. Those are the hallmarks of a champion side; not scraping home at the death, thanking our lucky stars as we sometimes do. We have seen too much of the latter for comfort which is why this win comes at just the right time as a heady tonic to spur our men on to greater heights in the Tests. When we win, it must be done with great comprehension. Like this last Sunday at the Khettarama. |
Deserved not one, but two hundreds
As usual the start was good, and the skipper played his part to perfection. Batting more and more with the kind of self assurance and discipline critics have been calling out for and not getting for a long time, Jayasuriya almost seems like a man transformed these days. There is now the assurance of a big score from him each time his broad bat meets the flight of the ball; when previously there was only a chancy prospect. Stricken with cramp in the searing heat for most of his innings, Jayasuriya not only set the tone, he supervised things out in the middle much like a choral conductor. Indiscretion at the other end was minimized and as a result the younger men prospered. For his part he deserved not just a hundred, it was worth two.
The most noticeable feature of the skipper’s batting has been his running between the wickets. In these very same columns he’s been taken to task with some severity over some abysmal showings in the past but in this tournament he has been absolutely decisive. What is more, he has made the ones into twos and the twos into threes with the kind of regularity that has made the men at the other end pant with their tongues all the way up to their knees. Good hard cricket; and milking every run out of every opportunity. Good on him, for that is certainly the way to go about things to create a positive frame of mind.
Jayewardena’s silken grace
Jayewardena batted with his usual silken touch, bringing to everyone’s notice the grace of the orient that he is so richly endowed with. He really is a class act when in full flight which is more the reason why it is so difficult to comprehend why he has to perish to such a rotten shot as the reverse sweep played to the wrong ball and to the wrong bowler. When royalty goes, it should do so with greater grace.
The rest played as a team. Once Arnold had made the first incision with a direct hit to claim the first Indian wicket, Dilhara Fernando obliged by intimidating Ganguly into an injudicious cut right down Arnold’s throat at cover point. And when the backs of Laxman and Dravid were seen wending their sorrowful ways pavilion bound, there was not a hope in hell of an Indian comeback despite all of cricket’s glorious uncertainties. Sri Lanka ran away worthy winners in a Triangular Tournament of the minnows but now need to seriously reflect on the wisdom of pursuing with this truncated version of the game at the present clip. Too much one day cricket will quite simply retard the development of batsmen as well as bowlers.
These are some of the pensive thoughts that must cross the minds of the play makers at the Cricket Board as they now attempt to improve the country’s standing as a respected Test playing nation in every way.