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shackles are broken Sri Lanka were able to whiff the scent of victory at Centurion park this week. On a final day that produced nerve wracking cricket, South Africa crept to victory by a narrow margin of three wickets when set to make 121 for victory. In all the test matches that Sri Lanka has been engaged in Australia and South Africa this is the closest they came to a victory. There have been many better performances, particularly with the bat, where bigger totals have been accumulated. Never though, has the opposition been given the jitters in this manner. It boiled down to one factor, bowlers being able to pick-up wickets. A fact about this sport is that it is the bowlers who win matches for a team. The famous pace bowlers of the West Indies dominated for about fifteen years and helped their team to be supreme in world cricket. The Australian dominance in the past decade and at present is because of Shane Warne and a lethal trio of pacemen. Of course the batsman have to score an adequate amount of runs. Based on the run of play, had the Sri Lankans scored another fifty runs, then, the completion of the game would have definitely changed. Unfortunately there were a number of errors in the decisions made by the umpires. The normally consistent Daryl Harper did not have a good game. Mahela Jayawardene being adjudged lbw at the other end, first ball on day 5 was a telling blow for Sri Lanka. It was a tough call but the first impact of ball on pad was just outside the line of off stump and the batsman should have been afforded the benefit of doubt. The South Africans capitalized and the collapse set in. Then the drama unfolded with Chaminda Vaas capturing a wicket first ball. Vaas was tidy in both test matches. He was accurate, varied his deliveries and tried his heart out. Dilhara Fernando was transformed. He overstepped and overstepped in the first game. That was sorted to a great extent. His mind was more on the job. Now the young strapper has established himself as the quickest bowler that this country has produced. He breathed fire on the South African batsman that Tuesday afternoon. They all ducked and weaved and sparred at Fernando's deliveries. He bagged four scalps but in the end it was not enough. What mattered was that he stood up to be counted as a reckoning force in his trade. Muralitharan's viciousness was negated by the quality of the surface in both games. The South African batsman too had studied him and now most of the top order have played him on a number of occasions. The experiences have made them more confident of playing him. The champion off spinner virtually took a back seat by his standards. Although he contained and picked up a few wickets, the pressure was not sufficient to corner the South Africans. Another strike bowler in attack is what is required. South Africa had a distinct advantage during these games because their team had three very good all rounders. Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock and Mark Boucher. All three players performed their all round skills with distinction. This gives the team additional bowling strength and greater batting strength in the middle and lower order. Still under a cloud of shock, the Sri Lankans gained consolation from the fight they offered on the final day. They have broken the shackles. That performance should give them the confidence and courage to perform much better, be positive and play attacking cricket. Winning
is not everything All matches played against a certain school ended up with a lot of unpleasantness. A leading school from Colombo, who were not ready to put up with the confusion, withdrew from the competition in toto. The crowd behaviour too left much to be desired and one wondered how this type of hooliganism was tolerated as the participants were all young children within the age groups of 7, 8 and 9. Added to that the officials too did not seem to know the rules of the game and the main offender seemed to be the coach of a certain well known outstation school. The contest even lacked experienced officials and it was a shock to see youngsters in the age group of 13 to 14 from this particular school acting as officials. The scores were changed from time to time, you guessed it, to the advantage of this particular outstation school. One little lad who was so humiliated by the so called 'little officials' and who refused to be pushed by them, ran to his father in tears.Added to that the cheer squad behaved so badly that the other schools were on the verge of walking out in disgust. It is high time that these wrong doers are taught that winning is not everything. Unable to put up with all this nonsense the coaches and parents of all the visiting schools complained and managed to keep the cheering squad out. Stableford
tournament at RCGC The tournament takes place on Saturday, November 30. Some of the country's biggest names in golf will vie for honours at this tournament which also enables participants to accumulate points for the 2002-2003 Grand Prix, RCGC Captain Lalith Ramanayake said. The Secretary of RCGC Lionel Almeida said the tournament will be over 18 holes and open to all members of the men's section having a current RCGC handicap. The tournament will be conducted in four Divisions, with Division A comprising of players whose handicaps range from 0-9, Division B with handicaps of 10-18, Division C with handicaps of 19-28 and a separate division for seniors, he explained. |
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