Well done Sri Lanka
By Rev. Bro. Nimal Gurusinghe FSC
Every time the Sri Lanka cricket team plays against another country,
or takes part in a tournament, all our fans want it to win. Without
doubt everyone wants that to happen. Such is the natural desire of any
person. As a true cricket lover I do not look at it from that angle.
A team can play badly and still win because the opponents are worse
that it is. In such an event the victory is far from glamorous. On the
other hand, a team can play well, put up a good fight and still lose the
game because the other team played better. It is worth playing good
cricket and fighting till the last minute. Even if the game is lost no
harm is done.
In the ICC Champions Trophy Tournament our lads played the game the
way it should be played and it was a pride and joy for me to watch them
in action.
I would like to analyse the tournament match by match. In the first
match against New Zealand we played on a very poor pitch. It was a
bowlers' pitch and, in such a situation, our batsmen did not fare very
well. We got only 128 runs. It was difficult to defend a total of that
nature on any pitch. Nevertheless, our lion-hearted cricketers fought
till the last minute and went down gracefully. If the umpires had not
made blunders then Sri Lanka would have won the match. It was a treat to
watch our cricketers playing their hearts out and giving their very best
for the team. I must mention here the superb bowling of Lasith Malinga.
He answered many of his critics by his actions that day.
Then it came to the match against England, the host nation. On that
day our bowling was not up to the mark and our fielding was horrible.
The English batsmen massacred our bowlers and put up a massive total of
293 on the board.
After a bad day on the field and missing so many catches, our morale
was very low. In that frame of mind no one expected our lands to chase
the 294 needed to win. But our team showed the world that 'where there's
a will, there's a way.' Our lads reached the total in style and made the
English cricketers eat humble pie. It was a treat to watch Kumar
Sangakkara and Nuwan Kulasekara playing two magnificent innings which
helped Sri Lanka carry all before it.
In the league final match we played against Australia. The Aussies
were determined to win the game with a bonus point. They won the toss
and sent us into bat. With some responsible batting from our lads we
manged to score over 250 runs. I admire the responsible innings played
by Mahela Jayawardane. The Australians tried their best to reach this
total before 29.1 overs. But our bowlers were on target and the
opposition began to lose wickets. They tried to win the match but the
'never-say-die' Sri Lankans did not allow them to dictate terms. Our
lads won the match very handsomely and entered the semi finals of the
tournament.
In the semi final match we had to battle against the World Cup
Winners, namely, the mighty Indians. It was a very poor pitch for a semi
final. Before the match there was rain and dew on it. Very
unfortunately, our captain lost the toss.
The Indian bowlers were on target, while batting on a pitch of that
nature was a nightmare for any batting side. I would say Sri Lanka was
very unfortunate that day. However, our batsmen managed to score over
180 runs. When India started batting, the wicket was dry and batting, as
such, was not difficult. So they easily won the match.
As an ardent cricket fan I do not blame our lads. I congratulate them
for their stout-hearted display. They showed the world that we are
'second to none.' Well done, our national cricketers! Continue to keep
the Sri Lanka flag flying! |