Photo courtesy of cricinfo.org and thus courtesy of Getty Images
Inspired by this experience, they scaled even greater heights at the WACA when they defeated Australia convincingly in a T 20 match on 31 October. This was the first time Australia has been beaten in the T20 format at home. The victory is all the more significant because it was at the WACA. Just as Sri Lanka often begins its Test series against visiting sides at the spin-friendly grounds of Galle, Australia select the bouncy-pacey grounds of Perth as the initiating field for South Asian sides. That Sri Lanka surmounted this disadvantage as well as the loss of the toss redounds to their credit.
A third party friend who has no Sri Lankan links sent me this evaluation of that match: “Sri Lanka out played Australia in every department of the game in Perth, their bowling was clever, their fielding great (Fernando took one of the best catches of all time) , and their batting murdered the Aussie bowling.” …. ending his message with the words “I gone.”
POSTSCRIPT
Since the note above was composed, Sri Lanka has even risen, like Phoenix, from the ashes to win the ODI match at the MCG. It was poetic justice that Murali, who had to run a gauntlet at the same ground in his first appearance there on 26 December 1996, should have ended his last cricketing trip to Australia by hitting the winning runs. I was present then on that fateful day but, alas, was not present in person on 3rd November.
POSTSCRIPT TWO: SOME COMMENTS IN
http://dilmahforum.cricinfo.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1288679814;start=all
A third party friend who has no Sri Lankan links sent me this evaluation of that match: “Sri Lanka out played Australia in every department of the game in Perth, their bowling was clever, their fielding great (Fernando took one of the best catches of all time) , and their batting murdered the Aussie bowling.” …. ending his message with the words “I gone.”
POSTSCRIPT
Since the note above was composed, Sri Lanka has even risen, like Phoenix, from the ashes to win the ODI match at the MCG.
It was poetic justice that Murali, who had to run a gauntlet at the same ground in his first appearance there on 26 December 1996, should have ended his last cricketing trip to Australia by hitting the winning runs. I was present then on that fateful day but, alas, was not present in person on 3rd November.
POSTSCRIPT TWO: SOME COMMENTS IN http://dilmahforum.cricinfo.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1288679814;start=all
Comment from DELAN
| What a brillant game, and brillant come-back!!! Worth every penny and freezing conditions to be there at the MCG to witness this. At one stage thought we had blown our chance and were facing a humilating 100+ run defeat. That 9th wicket partnership was awesome…sat there nervous and excited…didn’t want to move excepty to applaud runs and commone sense non-scoring shots. Just kept looking at scoreboard in counting down the runs in small batches of 5 runs at a time. I thought we did ok with the ball, but we stilled missed some chances in the field. The one that let Hussey off was costly. Seems like we also need more practice at hitting the stumps like in the T20 game. Malinga was brillant early on but we were leaking runs from the other end. I like Kulasekera. He is a good competitor, tries hard, and usually accurate, but to me medium pacers don’t work in Australia unless the have that little extra something in the armour ie. extra pace, or ability to significantly move the ball. IMO Dilhara Fernando is better choice on aussie pitches. He has height, pace, an excellent slower ball, and from the T20 games looks in good Rhythm and form. I think Sanga got his calculations wrong as I don’t see why he bowled 4 oer of Dilshan, and even Kulasekera out, and ended up with Randiv, Murali & the star with the ball Perera all not completing their 10 overs. I still think our team lacks that finall killer or knock out blow. When you have a team down and out finish them off. Don’t give them a sniff or chance to come back, especially the aussies in Aus. Having said that a comeback like we did with the bat will do wonders for our team, and leave the aussie demoralised. The lost the unloseable!!! The English much be so happy. Some of our top order batsman need their brians checked for stupidly throwing their wickets away. Silva & Dilshan played shocking shots. Its not easy to play the big shots on the larger aussie grounds. Common sense would have told them to play themselves in before attempting such shots. If you are goiung to hit over the top you need to have a lot of power in it like Malinga did not some halfarsed attempt like Silva did. And the horizontal shots really need to be hit to ground where possibly. I think Tharanga has to go. I would rule him out of my WC squad. He is mentally and technically flawed at present and perhaps needs a good stint in county cricket or some academy to try rectify his issues. This ain’t going to happen before the WC. He seems lost on his role swinging wildly and missing every ball. He can’t even rotate the strike. This buts enormous pressure on the other batsman to keep the scoreboard ticking. After his flop last WC he is too much of a liability in this present form to take to the next. Time to try Chandimal, Kpu, Silva anyone else to see firstly if the have what it takes, and secondly to get some runs under their belt. Sanga was smoking hot with bat. He played well and senisbly and looked at ease…then he played a foolish risky shot given the circumstance of the game with SIlva throwing his wicket the previous ball. If Chamara Silva plays a shot like he did again before the WC he should be shown the door. Can’t carry stupidity into the WC. What can I say about Angelo. I thought it was not worth playing him just as batsman but thank God we did. This could be the making of him as a batsman. We have seen his talents with bat and ball, but to do it under-pressure, with backs-against the wall and lead the team to a historic victory is amazing. To me this knock for his career may be as significant as the one Mahela scored in Adelaide all those years ago when once again Murali hit the winning runs in a famous victory. Angelo seems to have good head on his shoulders and show much more responsbility and maturity than either of the Chamaras. I keep getting impressed with Randiv. He is good not just with ball, but also bat and in the field. Great committment and effort. His height and variations are a great asset in Aussie conditions. I thought Malinga had a great allround game. Was good with ball, and not as erratic as in Perth. Those were huge sixes straight down the ground that he hit. Its funny that he came out to bat without a box/protector, and even hit a 4 before getting one brought out. Wonder if this helped calm him down as his mind shifted from the dire state of the team to other things! I remember him getting 40 odd in a test at Hobart with some loft blows, and did a faboulous job tonight. The 19,000 odd crowd (prob 18,000 of them sri lankans) that attended certainly got their money’s worth tonight! It was almost like a home game atmosphere for our team. Lets hope our supporter get behind the team in Sydney and we can repeat the dose for the aussies, and perhaps give them a rare whitewash at home…which i’m sure they’ll love on the eve of a tough Ashes campaign! |
|
******************************
Comment from PARAKRAMA who was alongside Delan |
Yeah…the fine for running on to the ground is A$7000…so if the forum is prepared to donate we are happy to run on to the ground….ha..ha… Our success rate is 100% when attending matches together at the MCG..lets hope we can keep that record intact in the future. It was great to have your company..what was a sensational match.
Yoga – Welcome back mate…..actually it was a privillage to be there live to watch a truly amazing game of cricket. I am sure it will be talked about in years to come and we who were fortunate to be there will remember it with utmost pride for ever. I was fortunate to be Lahore when SL won the WC…that will always to be first on the list but yesterday’s match would run a close second to that. To rub it in to the aussies…to win like that on their own soil…priceless….
Omar – Unfortunately I cant write as well as Yoga..if I tried I wouldn’t be doing justice to him. Delan has pretty much sumed up things in detail. The atmosphere at the MCG was electric…as usual when Sri Lankans are around..lion flags all over..papare bands playing…and even at 107/8 people were singing….in the usual Sri Lankan “neva gilunath ban choon” style. I must say the cheering was more subdued at that stage but picked up once Angie and Lasith got going. For me the trump card was taking the batting power play at that stage..nothing to lose….and it really worked for us. That allowed both Angie & Lasith to go for the runs and that momentum was kept going even after the PP overs. The run rate was always kept more than the required rate and in the end to win with 34 balls spare was just icing on the cake.
At 80 odd for 6 wickets Delan & I were saying lets get to a 100 and than we were discussing of getting to 150 so that even if we lose it will by less than 100 runs. From then we were counting down 10 runs at a time till we got to 200. With less than 50 runs to get we felt SL had a great chance of doing the unbelievable…from than on the countdown was 5 runs at a time…and it came so qickly it was all a blur in the end. With the scores tied, the script was written for the great Murali to get the winning runs and then the whole MCG erupted in glee. It was truly remarkable, SL had done what was almost impossible….
At one point when Malinga was bowling the whole MCG was chanting his name and the roar was deafening and I saw some aussies looking at each other…maybe thinking whether this was a home or away game…..such was the atmosphere. Its almost like a dream come true. ….have to watch the highlights today to confirm it
I am sure 18,000 Sri Lankans would be going about their work today in Melbourne with pride and with their heads held high and others who watched on TV and millions of Sri Lankans back home and all around the world would be proud to be Sri Lankan. Indeed it was a moment never to be forgotten. For me it brings a tear to my eyes and goose bumps all over…just simply…priceless..
Cheers!!
**********************
Comment Two from DELAN
Yoga, we didn’t have Malinga wigs on, although I do have a touch of colour in my hair also.
Just looking at a few things from the aussie side of things before tomorrows game, there were few surprises and strange decisons.
Obviously Ricky will be back to lead the side. There have been numerous calls for Ricky’s head as captain over the last couple of years, but a similar pressure is being felt now by Michael Clarke since their Indian tour. There are even poll’s in the paper asking if Cameron White, Marcus North or Callum Feguson should replace Clarke as VC and become next skipper. In both the T20 and yesterday Clarke tried to impose his authority by batting himself up the order. This seemed to unsettle the rest of the aussie batting line-up. Watson didn’t play well at 3 in Perth, and yesterday it was hard to find a ball that actually hit the middle of his bat. When the pressure was one Clarke looked clueless and was left scratching his head!!!
I hear Callum Ferguson has been rushed back into the squad to replace the injured Shaun Marsh. Again with Marsh I was suprised he didn’t bat in the top 3. These days that where he successfully bats for WA in the doemstic scene and it was a strange move to have him in at 6.
Originally Nathan Hauritz was due to come back for last 2 ODIs, however Doherty’s perfomance has given the aussie selectors some headaches. It was a good debut performance by him, even if we did gift him a couple of wickets. Its hard to drop him after performance like that. Suppose they could be play both spinners if Steve Smith is out.
Doherty is not a big spinner of the ball, unless there is some rough or footmarks to bowl into. He bowls ata quicker speed usually +90km/hr and quite straight. Thats where Mahela and Nuwan came unstuck. The ball that got Sanga was poor risky shot left arm over the wicket ball outside off, but come back towards stump both with the angle and out of the rough.
Doherty in first class cricket has a poor record. He is not traditionally a flight bowler or natural big turner.
Its interesting that Steve Smith bowled only 3 overs. Clarke claims he had a sore back so couldn’t bowl yet he stayed on the field. He actually was diving around, and fielded quite well. So was he really injured? Is it some other injury that the aussies don’t want to reveal? This is possibly with Ashes around the corner and Smith tipped to be part of it. Or was it a tactical blunder by Clarke not to use more overs of spin? I wonder if Tissara Perera’s hammering of Smith in Perth was playing on his mind?
The aussie fast bowler’s seemed hell bent on bowling short. A strange tactic in the modern ODI game. It may have been a surprise tactic in the past, buyt today most batsman a prepared for it, and when you over do it it becomes not only obvious but risky as it can leak runs. There’s no invincible bowler’s in this aussie line up. With sensible cricket each can be milked for runs, and will give regular bad balls to put away. I thought if there was one bowler that might trouble us it may have been Dirk Nannes at Perth, but we played him well. Guess aussies are unlucky that the likes of Bollinger, Harris are injured. Johnson is erratic andf can be dominated and hit for runs.
Will be interesting to see what the tactics are in SYdney and what type of pitch is produced. Our guys seem much more prepared and determined this time round. I hope some of our NSW forum members can provide reports for us. I’m so tempted to hop on a plane and fly down for the game
Email Comment from Darrell Lieversz — who played for Ceylon in the 1960s
Thanks Michael. I was at the game and what game it was!!!
Regards,
Darrell