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Sa'adi Thawfeeq reporting from South Africa & Kenya

JOHANNESBURG, Sunday - There will be a great majority of cricket followers who will be disappointed that Sri Lanka didn't proceed beyond the semi-final stage of the 2003 World Cup played in South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe.

But for those who have followed the fluctuating fortunes of the national team since last June in England, it has come as no surprise they failed to get into the final. For some it may have come as a surprise that they even went this far.

Had Sri Lanka reached the finals it would have been a travesty of justice because they didn't play enough good cricket to be there. The same could be said of Kenya who not only beat Sri Lanka but went on to become the first non-Test playing nation to qualify for the semi-finals.

The performances of the Sri Lanka team was like a yo-yo. They blew hot at one time and blew cold the next thus signifying the fact the lack of consistency in their performances.

The biggest drawback for Sri Lanka was their middle-order batting which let them down badly on several occasions. The batting was actually carried by skipper Sanath Jayasuriya and vice captain Marvan Atapattu and, to a lesser extent by Aravinda de Silva and Hashan Tillakaratne.

This is in contrast to the batting line up that Sri Lanka possessed seven years ago when they won the World Cup. What the 2003 World Cup has proved is that the youngsters who were chosen to replace the likes of Asanka Gurusinha, Arjuna Ranatunga and Roshan Mahanama had failed.

The biggest disappointment was Mahela Jayawardene. This fluent right-hander was totally out of touch and went through a torrid time. It was his worst performance since breaking into the international scene six years ago.

Jayawardene aggregated just 21 runs from seven innings (avg. 3.00) and failed to reach double figures even once (highest score being 9). His form was not the only disappointment for Sri Lanka. Left-handers Russell Arnold and Kumar Sangakkara were also guilty of failing to deliver in the middle order. Arnold scored 92 runs in eight innings (avg. 15.33) and Sangakkara, 176 runs in nine innings (avg. 25.14). In addition to his batting failures Sangakkara was also guilty of many mistakes behind the wicket which proved costly to the team. Whether he is the right person to keep wickets will have to be examined rather seriously by the national selectors. He will never be forgiven for running out club mate Aravinda de Silva in the semi-final match against Australia. De Silva's dismissal was the last straw and with it went the little chance Sri Lanka had of topping the moderate total of 213.

Having announced that the 2003 World Cup would be his swansong, De Silva set his mind on enjoying himself in the middle, whether batting, bowling or fielding. He belied his 37 years at times by the way he threw himself around on the field and he could easily have scored more than the 267 runs he accumulated in the tournament had he not been a run out victim twice, against the West Indies and against Australia. On both occasions he was well set to play a big innings.

Tillakaratne had one good innings in the opening fixture against New Zealand, but did not do anything wrong and more or less justified his place at no. 3. Whether the selectors will persist with him for the one-day game in the future is another matter.

Atapattu scored two centuries in crucial games, both against the African countries - South Africa in the final Pool 'B' match which qualified Sri Lanka for the Super Sixes and, Zimbabwe in the final Super Sixes game which put the team in the semi-finals. Both knocks were important to Sri Lanka's cause.

Atapattu made the most runs for Sri Lanka with 382 (avg. 54.47) and with his captain Jayasuriya, who also topped the 300-run mark (321, avg. 40.12) was the only other Sri Lankan to make a century in the tournament. Jayasuriya scored 120 in the opening game against New Zealand at Bloemfontein.

For Sri Lanka's batting to fail as it did is a rarity because the country is recognised mainly for producing top quality batsmen than bowlers. But on this occasion, it was the batsmen's inability to deliver under pressure against top class opposition that spelt the doom of Sri Lanka.

The positive that emerged out of the 2003 World Cup was the bowling success of Chaminda Vaas who ended the tournament with a record haul of 23 wickets. He surpassed the previous World Cup record of 20 wickets taken jointly by Australia's Shane Warne and New Zealand's Geoff Allott in 1999, during the semi-final match against Australia.

Vaas didn't generate much pace but bowled a superb line and length and also reverse swung the ball in his later spells. He ended on top of the pile with 23 wickets taken at a cost of 14.39 and an excellent economy rate of 3.76 runs per over. He also added a hat-trick to boost against Bangladesh, becoming the first bowler in one-day international history to do so with the first three balls of a match.

Vaas' bowling was supplemented by off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan who finished with 17 wickets at a cost of 18.76 runs and also had a good economy rate of 3.63. For not the first time, Muralitharan who always wants to be in the limelight, was overshadowed by Vaas.

Jayasuriya and De Silva also chipped in with useful wickets, but Dilhara Fernando and Prabath Nissanka, the two quickest bowlers in the side, and Pulasthi Gunaratne, were disappointing. Fernando went at 5.58 runs an over for his eight wickets and Nissanka, although his figures don't show it, had only one good game against Canada. Gunaratne bowled one good last over against the West Indies which earned Sri Lanka a thrilling six-run win, but that over apart, he was far too expensive conceding 6.05 runs per over.

Buddhika Fernando was the most unlucky player in the team failing to get a single game. Fernando's selection as well as the picking of two batsmen in Avishka Gunawardana and Jehan Mubarak at the expense of an all-rounder like Upul Chandana are questions that need to be answered by those who dared to pick them.

Overall, Sri Lanka needn't be disappointed by their performances in the 2003 World Cup. The team Jayasuriya took to South Africa did not have enough ammunition to win another World Cup. They were far short of achieving that. That is the bottom line to their 2003 World Cup campaign.

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