‘blackwash’
On the 17th of March 1996, under the leadership of Arjuna Ranatunga, Sri Lanka won the coveted Cricket World Cup in Lahore beating Australia ever so comfortably by 7 wickets. On the 17th of August 2016, Sri Lanka inflicted an ignominious 3-nil Test defeat on the high-riding Australians (again!) who began the series occupying the No.1 slot in the ICC Test rankings, while the hosts were dawdling in the 7th position. Indeed it was 17 years ago that Sri Lanka, for the first time, beat Australia in a 3-Test series though the score-line was a modest 1-0. After the recent disastrous tour of England, when Sri Lanka lost each form of the game in a humiliating manner, most expected the Australians to do much the same to Sri Lanka, especially with most or all of our pacemen nursing injuries as well.
In fact, the practice game serving as a limb-loosener for the tourists, ended in an innings victory for the tourists. Then the First Test began at Pallekelle, and in 34.2 overs Sri Lanka was bundled out for a paltry 117 runs. Obviously all seemed to be going according to ‘schedule’. Sri Lanka was still on track it seemed. However veteran Herath (5/54) and chinaman bowler Lakshan Sandakan (4/49) making his Test debut, returned the compliment and dismissed the Australians for 203. It was apparent that the Lankan spinners were going to be a thorn in their flesh. Now came the most sublime innings in the series, when young Kusal Mendis (176) played the innings of his life,and was the cornerstone of our eventual victory, enabling the hosts to post a total of 353 runs.
In the second innings the story was much the same – Herath (5/54) and Sandakan (3/49) – resulting in Sri Lanka winning by 106 runs.
Clearly, it seemed the approach by the Australian top-order batsmen to cope on the spin-friendly pitches were at fault. Often it appeared they could not make up their minds whether to sweep/reverse sweep or go up to the pitch of the ball and drive. As a result of this confusion they ‘fell between two stools’ and how Herath enjoyed the discomfiture of the Aussie batsmen! Indeed ending up with a series haul of 28 scalps he not only ended up as Man of the Match in the third Test, but Man of the Series as well. This feat of 28 wickets in a 3-Test series enabled Herath to equal the feat of Muralitharan, although the highest (33) is by Richard Hadlee of New Zealand. India’s Harbajhan Singh (32) is the second on this list.
The most redeeming feature in this series is how the Sri Lankan youngsters performed. First it was debutant spinner Sandakan; next it was Kusal Mendis. In the Second Test, Kusal Mendis (86) continued where he left off in the first innings. And finally it was young Dhananjaya de Silva who became the icing on the cake, more about him later. At Galle, Dilruwan Perera (6/70), then made his best contribution and Sri Lanka coasted home to a comfortable 229-run win inside 3 days. With a 2-0 lead, whether Sri Lanka can inflict a whitewash to the Australians was the question on everybody’s mind. The Third Test began at the SSC most ominously for the Sri Lankans. Winning the toss for the third time in a row, Mathews elected to bat. Then came disaster, with the score 26/5.
Kaushal Silva (0), Karunaratne (7), Kusal Janith (16), Mendis (1) and Mathews (1) were the victims. Now it was not a question of a whitewash, but can Sri Lanka survive defeat? Then Dhananjaya de Silva (129), playing in his first Test series, joined hands with vice-captain Dinesh Chandimal (132) and put on a match-winning partnership of 211 runs, steering the ship to safer waters and enabledthe hosts to post a commendable total of 355. It must also be mentioned that young de Silva was most fortunate to have his vice-captain Chandimal at the other end, who not only played second fiddle to the youngster at the start but was a tower of strength to him. Chandimal eventually batted for 8 hours in this energy-sapping heat!
The Australians replied strongly, with hundreds by Shaun Marsh and skipper Steve Smith and ended up with a minor lead of 24 runs. On Day 5 of the game there was a possibility of things going either way, with the Australians obviously trying their utmost to redeem their reputation by going for a consolation win. However they had to contend with Kaushal Silva nursing an injury to his hand requiring six stitches. Yet the stubborn, gutsy opener – though he came to bat at No.3 due to his injury – batted for a tad over 6 hours and compiled a superlative innings of 115 runs. In fact he had so far not reached double figures in the entire series! He was well supported by Dhananjaya de Silva who made a carefree, unbeaten 65 runs after his superlative century in the first innings. In fact de Silva headed the batting averages for both sides! A no mean feat for a player on his debut series.
Except for his batting performance at Galle when Mathews registered his only half-century and ended the series with a modest average of 25+, and bowled a mere unproductive 11 overs, the skipper did not enjoy too much of a good series. The rest was all Herath. With7/64 and a match-bag of 13/145, Sri Lanka coasted to a facile 163-run win. The Sri Lankan spinners – Herath (28), Dilruwan Perera (15) Sandakan (9) and Dhananjaya de Silva (2) accounted for 54 of the 60 Australian scalps or 90% of the wickets to fall! Those figures tells it all.The euphoria among the vast crowd – by Sri Lankan standards – the players, and all supporters of Sri Lankan cricket was indescribable. These three victories by Sri Lanka enabled the home side to go up to the 6th position in the ICC Test rankings, and also topple Australia from the top slot.
Sri Lanka has now on record 78 wins, 98 losses and 81 drawn games. So there’s much to still be done. Of course the recent performances of the Under 19 team in England will give much hope for the future of Sri Lanka cricket. The youngsters who played in this series seem quite promising to say the least. Can they perform as well in ‘away’ games as on spin-friendly pitches at home? That is the litmus test, especially with a South African tour ahead. Will Sri Lanka be able to field injury-free pacemen on those fast tracks, who can give as good as they get when pacemen of the caliber of Steyn, Morkel et al who hurl them at 140+ kph? What is happening to our Test-level pacemen? They simply keep breaking down and now the fast-bowling cupboard looks like Mother Hubbard’s!
As a reputed journalist recently observed:“to have a decent pace attack a great many stars would have to align for this to happen. Like the SLC balloon trip in which officials float into space through an abundance of hot air…..” Another question is, when will Sri Lanka produce another quality left-arm Test spinner? Herath is not getting any younger and is also not a gazelle on the field. The last time Sri Lanka had a bowler of this type – who was able to capture at least 5 wickets in a Test innings – was Niroshan Bandaratilleke, who did so way back in 1998 against the touring New Zealanders at Galle – where else?! Almost two decades have elapsed but it is difficult to believe that Sri Lanka has still not been able to identify and develop another bowler of this type.
This victory by Sri Lanka is probably the best series win since we became Full Members of the ICC in 1981. Winning each Test match by 106 runs, 229 runs (with a day to spare) and 163 runs, respectively, clearly indicates the better side. As mentioned earlier, the joy expressed by fans and the players after the final win at the SSC is obviously justifiable, but observing the antics of the powers-that-be in this regard seemed more of a marketing exercise. It is always best to remember that those in authority must remain dignified in victory and display humility in defeat and “treat both impostors the same.”