Mahela, Sanga the epitome of being complementary

Richard Dwight

CRICKET: Just as we kept reminiscing to wonder, as to whether their would ever be another successful duo, in the class and mould of former shipper Arjuna and his deputy Aravinda - we were to happily become alive to the fact, that we didn't have to wait for long and, were reassuringly relieved to find an excellent combination emerging in captain Mahela Jayawardena and vice captain Kumar Sangakkara.

Truly it has become the fusion of two extraordinary cricketing characters hailing from varied backgrounds, of different schools and clubs - where both Mahela and Sanga do appear to act, think and perform in like minded spirit, for the twain to virtually become one.

Through the mutual bond of cricket played at the highest level, they have been complementary to each other, not only on the field of play but off it as well, to become firm friends.

This salient feature of theirs has been seen in the matches played in the past, but amply made manifest in greater dimension and proved to the hilt, when Mahela and Sanga came together with Sri Lanka at 14 for 2 in reply to South Africa's first innings score of 169. It was by no means a promising start by Sri Lanka.

And being mindful of this, both Mahela and Sangakkara, the seasoned campaigners they are, batted sedately on, making it a point to score only when opportunities came their way, with a wide array of strokes, most of which found the ball speeding along the ground to the fence.

Reputed as they were, they stamped their authority to end day one by being unbeaten, scoring half centuries to put Sri Lanka on top at 128 for 2. On the following day Sangakkara lost no time in getting into his stride to effortlessly keep scoring at will, while Mahela was more content in being subdued to bide his time.

And when Sangakkara needed a break form scoring, Mahela went into action with a repertoire of elegant strokes, where the ball more often than not bisected the fielders to find the boundary and keep the scoreboard ticking. Thus they kept rotating the strike and alternatively made runs and, if needs be rushed a quick single to relieve the other from the strike.

This they were able to achieve, for as partners they understood each other well, and did have sufficient experience to plan and space out a marathon innings that was in the making.

They dominated this five day test match with their 2 1/2 days masterly batting. There was no savage butchering of the ball with utter disdain, but instead they at all times caressed the ball with sheer elegance and grace, it was verily rhythmic batsmanship of a high order, that was pleasing to watch.

Equally significant it was, when they felt that the ball wasn't going to reach the boundary or was fielded, they made it a point to squeeze out 3 runs and, adopt enough to convert ones into twos, which was exemplary running between the wickets.

It was unfortunate that Sanga made his exist with his score at 287, but not before establishing a world record for the highest partnership of 624 runs. Had he got to 300 runs, it would have been unique for two batsmen in an innings to score 300 runs apiece. But could take comfort in the fact that the aggregate of their individual scores of 661 in an innings, could also be a praiseworthy mark.

Mahela continued his chanceless exquisite batting to get past Bradman's 334, Sanath Jayasuriya's 340 to forge ahead of Len Hutton's 364 and Garfield Sober's 365 and, when Lara's record of 400 runs was a mere formality to him, quite out of character he succumbed to a ball from Andre Nel which surprisingly kept low to rattle his stumps for a well earned 374.

Now the question can be asked as to why had this particular ball to keep low. None of us could give an answer to this, but the answer to this may lie in the game of cricket itself. As in life so in cricket, we cannot have everything we want, the watchword is contentment.

Both Mahela and Sanga apart from being accomplished batsmen are eloquent speakers and were most impressive, when interviewed by Dean Jones. Both of them were of the view, that in a cricket team there are no seniors or juniors, every member is as important as the other, one among equals.

Mahela as a leader excelled beyond himself. His field placing and handling of bowlers was brilliant. He dared to be unconventional, to be innovative, when he got Murali to share the second new ball with Dilhara Fernando, which had the desired effect.

We have deliberately laboured on the achievements of Mahela and Sanga for the reason that they established quite a few records. But are ever conscious that this triumph over the Proteas, was brought about by a superb team effort, with Murali living upto his reputation.

This is how it always must be if we are to keep forging ahead in the world of cricket. If we hold onto this, there is every reason to believe that the team will give a good account of themselves against the South Africans in the second and final test match.