Friday Apr 19, 2024
Friday Apr 19, 2024
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Leading wicket-taker Dunith Wellalage (9 wickets)
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
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Leading run-getter Kusal Mendis (249 runs)
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For now, Sri Lanka can relish their 3-2 win in the five-match ODI series against Australia which was their first-ever over their opponents from Down Under in a series consisting of five matches and the first at home in three decades, the last coming in 1992 when they won 2-1.
For a nation going through probably its worst economic crisis with frequent power cuts and queues lining up for petrol, gas, kerosene and what not, the win over Australia came like a soothing balm to heal the wounds even if it is for a short period of time. The full house crowds that turned up at all eight white ball matches (three T20Is and five ODIs) at Colombo’s R Premadasa Stadium and Kandy’s Pallekele Stadium would have left the Australians wondering whether there was actually an economic crisis in the country.
Starved of international cricket for the best part of three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the spectators grabbed every bit of space that was available at the two venues to see one of the best cricket teams in the world play to their full strength.
Injuries were part and parcel of the game and both sides suffered from it throughout the series, but it didn’t dull one moment of the contest that took place in the middle. Australia started in dominant fashion winning the first two T20Is which only confirmed their status as the current T20 world champions.
It took a spectacular knock from the Sri Lankan white ball captain Dasun Shanaka to stop them from making a clean sweep of the series. In fact, that innings that came from nowhere when Sri Lanka were down and out, gave inspiration to the team that anything was possible even from the worst stage.
Although Australia recovered from that stunning defeat in the third T20I to win the opening match of the ODI series, Sri Lanka bounced back to win the next three matches on the trot – something which they have never done in white ball cricket against the Aussies – to clinch the series much to the delight of everyone who followed their progress diligently.
With the series on the line Australia had a sniff at victory in the fourth ODI when No. 10 Matthew Kuhnemann nearly pulled off an unlikely win scoring 14 of the 19 runs required in the final over. Once again in that epic four-run win for Sri Lanka it was the captain Shanaka who held the centre stage. He took on the responsibility of bowling the crucial final over and eventually delivered when he had Kuhnemann caught off the final ball of the match with Australia still five short of a win and four short of a tie.
For a long time since the retirements of the greats like Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka’s Achilles heel had been their top and middle order batting. The failure of the batsmen to put enough runs on the board had resulted in Sri Lanka’s fortunes as once a most feared white balls side come tumbling down the aisle so that they find themselves today having to qualify for the T20 World Cup as well as the 50-over World Cup – both formats of which they have emerged champions.
The turnaround began gradually in July 2021 when the Indians were here. Although Sri Lanka lost the ODI series they somehow managed to turn it around and win the T20I series although, to say the least, India was not at their full strength. Nevertheless, a win is a win and Sri Lanka from there onwards has had an upward climb especially in ODI cricket beating the two African countries South Africa and Zimbabwe by 2-1 margins apiece and now Australia 3-2.
Key to the turnaround has been match-winning performances from emerging young batters Pathum Nissanka and Charith Asalanka, newcomer Dunith Wellalage and recalled Jeffrey Vandersay while established players like Kusal Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dhananjaya de Silva, Chamika Karunaratne and skipper Shanaka have all shone.
“As a team, the guys have started to believe in themselves. The selectors have given them the confidence and the coaching staff has assured that they have won their confidence. That’s why they are performing really well throughout. I hope they will continue doing the good work in the future,” said Shanaka.
“If you take our squad from the Indian series, it has been the same players who formed the ODI side. They have all come to the level that is required, there is nothing to talk about the attitude of the players for when they step onto the field, they give 100%.”
Sri Lanka may have beaten Australia in the ODI series, but Australia’s focus was more on the bigger picture, the 2023 Cricket World Cup to be held in India where they would encounter pitches of sub-continent standard. That is why Aaron Finch the captain who won seven tosses in a row out of eight experimented with his team batting second as well as bowling second under lights sometimes with the dew factor to see how his batters and bowlers adapted themselves on the turning surfaces. Sri Lanka’s biggest challenge is likely to come in the two-Test campaign in Galle starting on 29 June, which the Australians have prioritised over the limited-overs matches, with Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins all being managed through the T20s and ODIs with the view to have them primed for the red-ball games.
SRI LANKA-AUSTRALIA ODI SERIES
LEADING RUN SCORERS
LEADING WICKET-TAKERS
