Let’s not make this historic win just a one-off show but a turning point

Moments to Cherish: Sri Lanka celebrate a historic win

• ODI cricket is still alive and kicking despite the razzle-dazzle of T20

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

In recent times Sri Lanka have been known to pull off a stunning win from nowhere but fail to carry on that momentum.

We don’t want a repeat of what happened in England last month when Sri Lanka beaten comprehensively in the first ODI, roared back in the second to turn tables on the home side and level the series, giving hopes of a comeback, but only to fall flat on their face in the third ODI and get thrashed by a massive 223 runs.

Sri Lanka’s historic run chase is something to treasure for other than South Africa and India no team has chased over 400 in an ODI and won. When England ran up a mammoth 429-4 no one in his right mind would have put their money on Sri Lanka to chase it down and win. So inconsistent has been their performances in ODI cricket that it has come to a point that fans have started losing interest in watching the matches.

But Thursday’s astonishing win will certainly rekindle the interest once again. Could this be the turning point for Sri Lanka in ODI cricket?

The win could be what the Sri Lankan team needed to inject some life to their sagging fortunes. They have been at the receiving end of so many defeats that an occasional win is like gold dust. What Sri Lanka needs to do now is not rest on their laurels of this famous victory but to use that as a launch pad to further their success with an eye on next year’s Cricket World Cup. 

Nothing satisfies a cricket fan more than winning a trophy. Now that they have made a start and a most memorable one at that, what Sri Lanka needs to do is try and win the Pakistan ODI Tri-Series.

That opening match against Pakistan which Sri Lanka should have won but threw away due to the lack of common sense batting, certainly had its effects. Some strong words may have been spoken at the team meetings no less by a person than the head coach Gary Kirsten whose reaction when Janith Liyanage and Dasun Shanaka threw away their wickets went viral simply implying what he thought about the shots they played. Liyanage in fact took the blame for the defeat when he appeared at the post match press conference. Whatever that took place certainly had its effects the way the Lankan batsmen buckled down to their job of chasing down the record score in the next match.

It was Shanaka’s 50-ball blitz 97 that swung the game Sri Lanka’s way and it was Liyanage who provided the finishing touch to the match with a 27-ball cameo knock of 61*. They had certainly compensated for the mistakes they made in the first game.

There have been questions asked about Shanaka’s selection, captaincy and performances, and criticism is part of professional sport. But we all know what he is capable of when he gets going. On Thursday, he reminded everyone of his ability to change a match in a matter of overs.

Avishka Fernando recalled to the ODI side was somewhat under the pump after failing miserably in the first match, but given a second chance he seized it with both hands and was most unfortunate to miss out on a century by three runs. He is finding his feet once again in ODI cricket and if he can continue with the form he displayed, it will surely strengthen the bench when Pathum Nissanka returns from injury.

Pavan Rathnayake has scored both his ODI hundreds in his short career batting at number 4. His first hundred was scored when he was promoted to number 4 against England at the R Premadasa Stadium in January this year, and his second, a career best 130 was the cornerstone on which Sri Lanka built their mountainous run chase. He has more or less solved Sri Lanka’s no. 4 batting problems.

While we applaud the magnificent run chase and victory, everything is not right in the Sri Lankan unit. There are quite a few grey areas that need to be addressed, especially the bowling and the balance of the team.

Sri Lanka simply don’t have the bowlers who can clock 140 plus and penetrative spinners who can win matches for them. Sri Lanka won against England purely on their batting. They didn’t get their balance right with the bowling. They went with only four specialist bowlers and the lack of a fifth allowed England easy runs. The three who made up for the fifth bowler Shanaka, Liyanage and Kamindu Mendis leaked 123 runs off their combined 10 overs.

If one were to roll back the years, the 1996 Cricket World Cup triumph was won by outstanding batting and brilliant fielding. But times have changed and so has the game with two balls being used at the start of play and one after the 34th over so that reverse swing comes into play quite significantly. That is why Sri Lanka needs a good bowling unit to exploit the conditions.

Sri Lankan cricket has faced difficult questions in recent times, and one victory will not solve every problem. For now, let’s savour the moment, but we should not get too carried away by the win. Performances like this can change the mood inside a dressing room, restore belief and give players the confidence to compete against anyone. The coaching staff, too, will have plenty of positives to take from this incredible team effort.

England must be wondering what more they could have done with the bat even after scoring 429. Their captain Harry Brook smashed the fastest ODI double century and they still ended up on the losing side.

People have often questioned the future of the format, especially against the razzle-dazzle of T20 cricket. But matches like this remind us that the 50-over game can still deliver extraordinary drama, unbelievable comebacks and moments that stay with us for years. Like West Indies head coach Darren Sammy commented on social media: “Wow… no score is safe,” when his team was at the receiving end against India last month after scoring 405. It can happen when a team has belief and batters are willing to take responsibility like Sri Lanka did on Thursday.