When Lankans outclassed England

Before the fourth quarter-final between Sri Lanka and England in 2011 World Cup match at the R Premadasa Stadium, our 'World Cup Special' Edition on Saturday carried the following headline stories: 'RALLY ROUND THE CRICKETERS' and SRI LANKA MUST GO FOR THE KILL FROM BALL ONE'.

The articles that carried these headlines were written by Dinesh Weerawansa, Sports Editor and this columnist. And that's exactly what happened when Sri Lanka staged a massacre of the founders of the game of cricket.

It was full house that took in and soaked the thrill-a-minute action. They rallied round the Lanka cricketers and cheered lustily every move. Be it a wicket, a diving save or even the three dropped catches were cheered so as to not demoralize the offenders. But was nice and typical of the host country crowd was that when the English did do well, they acknowledged it and cheered them too.

Part of the action

Inspired by the near 40 thousand crowd and millions more who would have been watching on the screens, the Lanka cricketers rose to the occasion. Magnificently. Convincingly. And with defying courage.

Then at the media briefing after the victory a beaming Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara praised his bowlers for pressurizing England from the first ball. In other words like we said, going for the kill from ball one which tactically also brought in spinner Dilshan in the very second over.

Before going on to comment on the action, one must compliment curator Anura Polonowita for providing a wicket that was friendly to both batsmen and bowlers. Sangakkara had said that the Indian wickets were better than the ones found here. It was a good challenge that Sangakkara threw out and Polonowita was equal to the task.

Important toss

After England captain Andrew Strauss won the all important toss one expected the batsmen to make use of this great opportunity, bat with purpose and run up a formidable total, and then put the Lankans under pressure.

But the manner in which opener Strauss and Ian Bell started, it was obvious that they were going to be in 'Struggling Street' as the batting began to unwind.

Strauss who has had a good run with the bat in the earlier games, was completely off colour. His usually wonderful timing and punishing strokes that used to flow from his willow had sadly deserted him.

Probe for victory

He was expected to be the rock on which England was going to build, pursue victory and endeavour for a slot in the semi-final. But his early dismissal seemed to take the sails off their batting ship. And thereafter the rest of the side caved in.

England might find solace in that they had been playing cricket for too long starting with the Ashes series in Australia and that they missed some of their top performers due to injury and the mental toll that overcame at least one player if not more.

But England has been in the game long enough to realize that resilience is the name of the game in the big league . As Strauss himself graciously admitted it will require England to reflect on its failings and regroup to fight on another day.

Inexplicable

That the England batsmen, especially Eoin Morgan who was dropped three times failed to capitalize and make a big score was inexplicable. Batsmen generally grab the fortune to heap misery on the bowling side. But not Morgan.

After the England innings ended at 229, which was not much of a total when considering Sri Lanka's strong batting line, in Chamara Silva, Thilan Samaraweera, Tharanga, Dilshan, Sangakkara and Jayawardena, one expected England to defend to death that total.Smart bowling and fielding would have done it for England.

But when openers Upul Tharanga and Tillekeratne Dilshan began to unwind and put on display their now famous opening stand show, England bowling and fielding began to look pretty ordinary.

No wicket

That they could not get a single wicket would have been galling to them. None of their bowlers - Spinner Greame Swann who opened the bowling, Tim Bresnan, Ravi Bopara, James Tredwell and Chris Tremlett could induce the openers into a false stroke.

It was sad to watch the bowlers being carted to parts of the field and over it as well by Tharanga and Dilshan. The twosome had the bowlers in tatters, frustrated, and disheartened.

Tharanga and Dilshan were just superb. Big opening stands now seem to come naturally to them. Against Zimbabwe they pulverized their attack to post a record 282 run stand.

Blast the covers

In most of the games, Dilshan had a tendency to try to blast the covers off the ball from the first ball. But in this game he did right to first have a look at the bowling, gauge the pace of the wicket and then intelligently dissect and scatter it all over the park at will. The man of the match award was fittingly a rich reward for him.

Upul Tharanga, the left hander has modelled his batting on good timing and caressing of the ball than rather than blast it with force. He has improved tremendously and is sound in defence and attack.

When Tharanga and Dilshan were motoring along in top gear, it was sad to see the England fielders chasing leather. Not for long time has an England attack being treated with such disdain.

Dilshan's sporting gesture

Tharanga and Dilshan remained undone on centuries. Tharanga on 102 and Dilshan on 108. With two runs for Tharanga's century after Dilshan had made his, it was a fine sporting gesture by Dilshan who played down the remaining two deliveries, thus allowing Tharanga to go for his in the next over.

Sport today has lost its values because of the big money to be won. But by Dilshan acting in a exemplary manner, there is still room for the traditional values that made sport the king to return to its old ways. Dilshan received deafening cheers for his magnanimous gesture. It was amusing to note the stance of some of the British media after England was roundly thrashed. The media blasted the administrators for the team's heavy schedule abroad. Tough luck...heavy schedules apply to all other teams as well! [email protected]