Lessons learnt

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Category: Russel Arnold Column

Published on Sunday, 15 January 2012 09:43

Written by Russel Arnold

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Though the 2nd test was won, going into the 3rd test Sri Lanka had a chance of going further in their quest for supremacy and direction by looking to give a knock- out punch to the Proteas.

On arrival in Capetown, the pitch was of  great interest and was comforting to the visitors as it looked very dry. But a full days rain the day before, freshened it up and the dreaded grass poked out offering a tinge of green in the end.

Test cricket is played over 5 days and you need to plan through the 5 days. This was the paradox on that pitch, if they batted first, Sri Lanka needed to survive just one session; and then conditions would have suited their strengths. Having lost the 2nd test the home team was under tremendous pressure, the decision to bat first was a 60/40 against.

On the other hand considering history of the grounds and the freshness of the pitch Sri Lanka felt they could bowl out South Africa cheaply and when they won the toss they elected to field first. To justify this decision however they needed to win that all important first session. Even though the bowling especially lengths were poor it would have been 60/3 if Kallis was picked up at fine-leg when he was on one run. With the remaining batsmen under pressure it would have been an ideal opportunity to really restrict South Africa. Once the batsmen get through  those early stages it was always going to hurt.

Once that opportunity was missed, Sri Lanka could never create any strain with  far too many loose balls were on offer on a very good track. It had nothing to do with the attitude but after the highs of Durban and exerting so much energy in maintaining disciplines it became impossible for the bowlers to maintain those energy levels required to carry out their skills at a high level. This is a problem that is very difficult to overcome as you need to play lot of cricket at those high levels for your body and mind to train itself. In subcontinent conditions it's the spinners who do the bulk of the work load and it is always easier to recover and carry out your skills. But on our travels this is a problem we face with the ‘quicks’ struggling and who can blame them. To achieve consistency this is an area that needs to be looked at.

With that pressure and South Africa finding their belief and going great guns, it was  going to be tough to survive on a dry deteriorating pitch. The South African pitches are harder and therefore the rough patches created by the bowler’s  follow through come into play and the ball turns and bounces more viciously than in Sri Lanka and also the cracks open and crumble too and that's the reason for the disconcerting and uneven bounce at pace.

Even though Sri Lanka were up against it I was looking forward to the 3rd day as it was a day we could ill afford to loose. A relatively decent day would have meant Sri Lanka were still alive and in the game by the 5th day and a draw would have been equal to a win. The pitch offered some help but it was not one to pierce batsmen out. Many loose shots were played by the Sri Lankan batsman with the skipper being the biggest culprit, taking the gloss off the runs he made by the way he got himself out.

The Proteas displayed that they had found their belief by showing great intent in the way they looked for runs on the 2nd day and declared before tea sending a clear message that they were going for the kill. Kallis played an unbelievable knock and 90% of his shots were just out of the coaching manual -played right underneath the eyes.

When South Africa came out to bowl, it was Philander who showed he had a lot more to his game than being a handful on seamer-friendly conditions. He was the one who created most pressure and he was the one who showed the other bowlers which length was the most effective on this pitch.

Once again, I was impressed with Chandimal but was disappointed the way he got out trying to slog instead of taking the opportunity to shape his game. He should learn to play his own game whatever the situation and should not loose discipline because of his mate’s inabilities. Thilan and Angelo looked so good on the 4th day but by then the horse had bolted. Ideally such a partnership on the 3rd day would have had a telling effect.

At the end of the series though, it must be said Sri Lanka walked away with many positives and some direction. Areas to work on were quite clear and I think the team has moved forward. A few questions to be answered too…..but we must all salute Thilan for his efforts. With all odds against him, he showed what you need to do for people to take note and he did it with actions and not words- incredible.

The change of format into ODIs I thought would have been welcomed by the tourists as they enjoy the shorter forms of the game a lot more and the new found confidence after the win in Durban would be the boost they needed.

The change in rules have put a bit of pressure on the combination required to be put on the park as well as getting the maximum of the players on offer was another headache. With most of the batsmen free stroke makers it was important to set them free in going about playing their game. Having to consolidate and also focus on the run-rate both are tough asks. Further with all the senior men preferring to bat up the order where you could bat with greater amount of freedom, it was interesting to see who would put his hand up to bat in the middle and see the team home.

Batting up the order is much easier as you set the pace. Down the order you need to adjust to the pace of the game. Adjusting is never easy. Out of the younger guys too I think Angelo and Chandimal are free flowing players and need to be set free and that means one of the seniors has to take the responsibility of holding the batting together and also batting with the tail.

The rule change of using 2 new balls puts pressure on both the batsmen and bowlers.  It means the ball will stay harder for longer.  The period to ‘get-through’ increases and if you do that, would there be enough overs left at the end to cash in? When it comes to the bowling, the Sri Lankans are better equipped with the softer ball, taking the pace off etc. Now that's tough to do as well as the 20overs required to be bowled with the field restrictions plus the all-important 10 death overs are basically upto 30.  So more overs need to be of high quality and require specialized bowlers, this takes the half bowler out of the game to a certain extent. If you need to bowl a half bowler you would more than likely use him when the field is spread and now therefore it is quite obvious when he will come on and this could be targeted by the opposition.

In the first ODI Sri Lanka came up against a dry, flat track in PAARL which looked like it could be sluggish. Once the toss was lost I felt South Africa needed to be restricted to about 240. With no help from the pitch, I thought Sri Lanka started well but with Dilhara Fernando and Ajantha Mendis not having any impact, things got out of hand. Jacque Kallis and Hashim Amla played exceptionally well and the attitude of AB de Villiers, taking to the bowlers and off decent deliveries, took the game away from the visitors. When AB walked to the crease, it was a time when the bowlers were looking to get through some overs and exert a bit of pressure after the partnership was broken, but de Villiers put spate to that. But yet again the skill of Lasith Malinga in the end overs was obvious, as only 60 was conceded in the last 10 where I was bracing myself for about 100.

The pitch in Paarl does change in the evening and if South Africa had bowled first they certainly would have not got such assistance from the pitch but once the runs were on the board and the confidence high, it was quite obvious that they had all the freedom to attack the batsmen. From the batsmen’s point of view they had to keep the scoreboard ticking with no time to settle in and they had to play shots at some very good lively bowling. The luck needed for a few flying shots to get things going didn’t come their way either.

It was a mournful and disappointing showing getting all out for 43 in reply to 301 and Sri Lanka have to find a way to recover from the debacle. That is of course being brave and starting strong. The big guns upfront have to take control to start things rolling just like Kallis, Amla and AB did the other night.

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