Disaster down under: Can Sri Lanka rise from the ashes?

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After the Boxing Day test that turned farcical with the visitors being whollaped inside three days many a Sri Lankan fan, back home and in Australia had pretty much lost faith in our cricketers.

To add to the misery, Kumar Sangakkara, the only opposition batsman that looked capable of holding one end up saw his tour cut short with a wicked blow on the index finger off Mitchell Johnson. Sri Lanka meekly surrendered their second innings, stumbling to a paltry 103, giving Australia an emphatic win by an innings and 201 runs. With the series gone, Mahela Jayawerdena’s men moved to Sydney with the hope of restoring some pride amongst the widespread ridicule for the hugely inapt showing in the previous two test matches.  Unfortunately his task seemed a herculean one given he was sans the classy Sangakkara, keeper Prasanna Jayawardena, and seamer Chanaka Welagedara. 

Having been put into bat, the Lions made a respectable 294, with Skipper Jayawardena and Lahiru Thirmanne making impressive scores of 72 and 91 respectively. Given the conditions and the fact that most batsmen got a start, one would have felt that Sri Lanka should have posted a score in excess of 350 at the least. A top quality test side would have done just so and put the pressure back on the opposition. Nevertheless it was something to bowl at for the likes of Herath, Lakmal and co. Sadly, our fielding let us down and the Aussies were let off the hook. Mathew Wade notched up his maiden century and the host piled up a score of 432 – a lead of 138. An all too familiar aura hovered around the SCG with the Sri Lankans staring down the barrel once again. Though Tillekeratne Dilshan early went early, young Dimuth Karunaratne batted admirably with his captain at the other end to put on a partnership of 108. Unfortunately, just as a glimmer of hope appeared, Karunaratne was dismissed for 85 which then triggered wickets falling at regular intervals. After Thirimanne was caught off Johnson, only Thilan Samaraweera could possibly explain the stroke of madness that led him to play such a rash shot to perish without bothering the scorers. That, and the juvenile running between wickets that saw Mathews being run out pretty much summed up just how far off Sri Lanka is from competing with the top tier nations, particularly away from home. The glaring gap that exists between them and the likes of England, South Africa, and Australia could not be more evident. There was also the answered question as to why the likes of Dinesh Chandimal were not playing all along. Chandimal performed admirably during the last tri-series in Australia. Why leave him out? Credit to him, he gave us all, including the selectors a timely reminder of his class, and more so bravado in his knock of 62, batting for a larger part with the tail. One positive to come out of the series is that we have young talent within our ranks who given the opportunity can stand up and be counted. Karunaratne, and Chandimal really outlined this fact.

Come the ODI series, Sri Lanka was always going to be more competitive. Lasith Malinga being back in the ranks was also a timely boost. Australia opted to rest their big guns with captain Clarke, Mathew Wade, and David Warner not being selected for the first two games. At the first game in Melbourne, they hardly seemed to miss them with Phil Hughes scoring is first ODI century as they amassed a score of 305/5 in their 50 overs. Sri Lanka were never really in the chase. Tharanga and Jayawardena fell cheaply with Thirimanne run out without facing a ball. Dilshan made 51, with Dinesh Chandimal once again being impressive before being the seventh wicket to fall for an entertaining 73. The innings eventually folded for 198, giving the hosts a comprehensive win. The second game in Adelaide saw the Australian selectors really taking the micky out of the Sri Lankan team by fielding two debutants – Cutting and Richardson in the starting eleven. As it turned out, they seem to have rolled the dice a time too many as the hosts were bowled out for 170. It was a great display in the field by the bowling unit that shared the wickets around. Lasith Malinga looked to be getting back to his best with figures of 3 for 32. Though Upul Tharanga was back in the pavilion three balls into the run chase, Dilshan and Thirimanne steered the Lankan ship out of troubled waters. Having made another half century, Dilshan perished when the score was on 137. In walked Kusal Janith Perera, on debut. The young keeper batsman displayed confidence and maturity of a veteran despite his young age.  They took Sri Lanka home, with the victory made all that sweeter by Thirimanne scoring the winning runs and racking up his maiden ODI ton in the process. – a huge boost for the Lions, and indeed a rap on the knuckles for the Aussie with a timely reminder that Sri Lanka means serious business in the shorter formats of the game.

As expected, alarm bells went off in the Aussie ranks earlier this week, with the series tied at one all. SOS’ were sent out and the missing trio of Clarke, Wade, and Warner were duly restored for the clash in Brisbane for today’s game. On a track that offered some movement, Australia went in as favourites and opted to bat fist having won the toss. What followed was beyond comprehension. The smiling assassin Nuwan Kulasekera was getting the ball to talk on that surface. One wicket fell, two, three, four, and before you knew what the mighty Aussies were 9/40. All Sri Lankan fans had to literally pinch themselves to believe what was unfolding before their very eyes. Thanks to the last pairing of Mitchell Starc and Doherty putting 34, Australia were able to avoid their lowest ever ODI score before Doherty was finally dismissed with the total at 74. ‘Kule’ had glossy figures of 5/22, with Malinga once again impressing with 3/14. Even on their worst batting day, Sri Lanka were always going to chase that score down. However, they did make very hard work of it. When Dilshan fell to leave the score at 33/2, the innings wobbled with wickets then going down at regular intervals. After huffing and puffing, the Lions eventually got there in the 20th over with the young Kusal Janith Perera being most impressive once again. The gloveman was very neat behind the stumps, pulling off a tough take to his left to dispatch the dangerous David Hussey. Then during the chase he was called in at a time the innings was stuttering and played with great authority to see the team through and remain undefeated once again at the close. Perera is surely one for the future and should definitely feature in the side for the reminder of the series even after the impeding return of Chandimal.

Sri Lanka is now on the cusp of another series win down under. They will feel comfortable at Sydney – the ground they’ve had the most amount of success in Australia, and look to wrap up the series come Sunday. For the Aussie camp, there are so many questions to answer, particularly with the much publicized rotation policy being called into serious question.  At last, the supporters are seeing some new blood being introduced and the results are already showing. Blooding youngsters against the likes of top quality opposition in their own back yard will serve them no end of good as we look to build a team for the 2015. It’s so refreshing to see the likes of Karunaratne, Chandimal, Thirimanne, and Perera putting their hands up and being counted. Onward young Lions, there’s a sniff of Kangaroo blood in the air!