Skipper Mahela Jayawardene almost led Sri Lanka to a stunning win against Australia on Friday but gave a harsh verdict on his team’s magnificent performance with a shock admission that they did not deserve to win.
“We made a few mistakes, couple of lost catches, we made too many mistakes, we didn't deserve to win the match," was Jayawardene’s assumption after the match though the islanders proved an impressive point being sharp on the field while Jayawardene himself excelled as a captain with an attacking gambit that put the free-scoring Aussies in a straight jacket and restricted them to an average 231.
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| Sri Lankan batsman Angelo Mathews (R) and Dhammika Prasad react at the end of the match against Australia in the Tri Nations ODI Cricket Series at the WACA ground in Perth on February 10, this year. Australia with a score of 231 won the by five runs. AFP |
Jayawardene adopted an aggressive approach keeping an attacking field even during non-power play overs, and managed to put a lid on the home side’s scoring successfully as the bowler’s backed their captain’s innovative strategy to the hilt by hitting the right areas.
Though the Sri Lankan batters threw away what appeared a manageable chase, vice captain Angelo Mathews once again proved his immense talent and character by guiding the Lankans almost to a thrilling win as they fell a mere five runs short.
Last man Dhammika Prasad joined Mathews for the last wicket with Sri Lanka 52 runs behind the target of 232. They were still short of 18 runs when Mitchell Starc's last over began. Mathews hammered a four and a six off the first two balls to take visitors close to victory, but was caught at the long on boundary while attempting a winning six, having scored 64 off 76 balls.
Jayawardene was not happy with the batting effort apart from that of his deputy, "Great effort from Angelo, but we gave away too many wickets in the middle overs to lose our way. We did the hard work with the ball, but we did not get a couple of big stands with the bat," he said.
"They (Australians) put a lot of pressure on our guys. Angelo is one who likes to finish games for us, he handles his situations much better," Jayawardene added.
Mathews who had been singled out by Jayawardene last week as being the man groomed for Sri Lanka captaincy was strangely off colour during Sri Lanka’s disastrous tour of South Africa last month earning scathing criticism in local media but his sudden arrival back at his brilliant best has sent Australian media, fans and even players agog.
"He continues to make runs against us. He is that type of player and if he gets past 20 he is unstoppable. He strikes the ball as clean as anybody," Australian skipper Michael Clarke admitted.
Mathews’ form has even set the Australians drawing up special plans to counter him. "We need to keep working on our plans to him and probably be a bit more disciplined early to him to try to get him out for less than 20 more often, because he is a very good striker of the ball" Clarke said.
But Mathews was prepared to adjust for anything the opposition is going to throw at him as Australia has turned out to be his favourite opponents. "They have an idea of me, so I have to think a bit ahead," said Mathews who is averaging 41.50 in against Australia while his career ODI average is at 33.45.But the dusky all rounder conceded that he would have the best interest of the team in mind and would not mind staying at his current number seven slot in the batting order, though he might have liked to have more opportunities.
"Obviously yes, but the team needs me finishing off the game," said Mathews.
Friday’s performance immediately brought back memories of a stupendous 132 run ninth wicket partnership. Mathews who hit 77 put together with Lasith Malinga to guide Sri Lanka to victory over Australia in Melbourne in November 2010.
"We were almost there. The MCG game was at the back of my mind, but unfortunately we couldn't pull it through," Mathews said.
The Commonwealth Banks Series moves to South Australia today with a game between Australia and India.
Indian Leg-spinner Rahul Sharma, who missed India’s first two games due to split webbing might be called into the side as his height gives him a lot of bounce on Australians wickets and can prove a handful.
But he will have to fight for his place with off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who capitalized on Sharma’s absence to claim 3 for 32 against Sri Lanka at Perth on Wednesday in a performance that earned him the man of the match award. Ashwin also scored 30 runs not out.
Australia are likely to blood a new batsman - either Queensland’s Peter Forrest or Western Australia's Mitchell Marsh - the younger son of Sri Lanka’s sacked coach Geoff Marsh.
The 20-year old Marsh who also bowls medium pace has played an ODI against South Africa last year and is in the reckoning thanks to a powerful domestic season.
Meanwhile Geoff Marsh claimed he is stilled baffled by his sacking by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).
"That was the disappointing thing. I was told very little. Basically they had made their decision and that was it. I'm still not sure why. That's what was said to me.” Marsh told a website yesterday.
However interestingly, Marsh did not rule out a comeback.
"But I was really pleased with what I did over there and the areas we were moving in and I wouldn't rule out coaching again." He had said.
Teams for today’s match (from):
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt.), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravinder Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Rahul Sharma, Irfan Pathan.
Australia: Michael Clarke (Capt.), Dan Christian, Xavier Doherty, Peter Forrest, Ryan Harris, David Hussey, Mitchell Marsh, Clint McKay, Ricky Ponting, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade and David Warner. |
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