EVEN as the taxi made its way to the Premadasa Stadium we could spot the difference. There were people everywhere, colourfully dressed, eagerly anticipating the big event.
In fact, this was a day when all roads led to the venue of the Sri Lanka-India Coca-Cola Cup final. A match-up everyone had been awaiting keenly.
What a refreshing change from the scenario in the earlier games when there were hardly any people to cheer the runs scored, the wickets taken and the stops made.
And all of a sudden these fans had jumped into the scene, seemingly out of nowhere. Given the earlier picture, this seemed almost bizzare. A kind of surreal feeling.
Yet, this was only understandable. Given the economic crunch in the country, people had stayed away from cricket - the tickets were also priced too high.
India's late surge in the league, which saw the side humbling Sri Lanka twice, had also rekindled the interest in the supporters, some of whom had travelled long distances to cheer their heroes.
They did not return home disappointed. It was a different story for the small groups of Indian supporters in the stands, whose faces at the end of a lop-sided contest revealed a sense of betrayal.
Yes, India succumbed to its eighth defeat in ODI Cup finals since 1998, a meek surrender by 121 runs. A defeat that came after the side had raised visions of a title triumph following three heady victories in the league phase, during a stage when everything appeared lost.
What went wrong? A lot went wrong. In fact, nothing went right for India when it mattered most.
Obvious was the absence of self-belief in big games. A lot about cricket stems from confidence, the factor that often stands between a glorious winner and a runner-up, who will be forgotten quickly.
The repeated failure to win the finals was also adding to the pressure, and some of the Indians were making things much harder for themselves and the team by trying too hard.
The Indians have to get into the habit of winning titles, a habit they have hopelessly lost. Surely eight setbacks at the summit cannot be an accident. Surely the Indians are choking when the occasion gets big.
To begin with, India lost a crucial toss. It's mighty tough to chase under lights at the Premadasa Stadium and they discovered this the hard way.
"Had we won the toss, batted first and made 250 or 260, it could have been a different story," Indian coach John Wright said ruefully after the game and he had a point.
But then, there can be no excuses for defeats, especially when it comes to the all-important game. The Indians appeared a flat, disjointed side that had lost the mind game even before the commencement of the battle.
And Lanka is an outfit that has invariably peaked in the final, having not lost a tournament at home over the last four years. Amongst its victims is the mighty Australia, which was humbled in the summit clash of the Aiwa Trophy in '99.
This time around too the home side took a vice-like grip on the match, running up a mammoth 295 in the allotted 50 overs against an Indian bowling and fielding that appeared listless.
Leading the Lankan charge was skipper Sanath Jayasuriya, who struck the ball with typical power to produce an invaluable 99. The skipper was showing the way.
Jayasuriya's innings consumed just 102 balls, was laced with 11 delightful boundaries, most of which resulted from the punch through the covers, the short-arm pull and the cut.
Yet, this was not the completely belligerent Jayasuriya. On the eve of the match he had said, "If I bat for 20 to 30 overs, it makes it easier for the others. And I can always change my game." In the event, Jayasuriya batted till the 35th over, which was crucial from the Lankan point of view.
There were several memorable strokes in Jayasuriya's innings. The pull over mid-wicket against Zaheer Khan was a ferocious stroke, so was the cut off Harbhajan Singh. And when Ashish Nehra strayed in line, the Lankan captain was quick to whip him past mid-wicket. It was breath-taking stuff.
In the same breath it must be conceded that the Indian bowlers strayed both in length and line, providing the Lankans the opportunity to have a crack at them.
"They lacked discipline," Wright pointed out the next day. This was especially true of the new ball combination of Zaheer and Nehra who were savaged by Jayasuriya and Gunawardene.
The Lankan think-tank had rather unfairly left out the dashing Gunawardene in a couple of games, but wisely brought back the left-hander for the final.
Gunawardene's 31-ball 34 was a vital element in Lanka's initial blitz that shook the Indians. The first 50 arrived in just 7.4 overs even as Zaheer and Nehra were put to the sword.
And by the time Gunawardene was trapped leg-before, trying to cut a faster one from Harbhajan, the Lankans had got the start they were looking for, with 71 runs coming off just 65 balls. Later, coach Dav Whatmore revealed that it was the early onslaught that enabled the Lankans to plan a target close to 300.
The heart of the innings was the 104-run partnership for the third wicket in 119 balls between Jayasuriya and the talented Mahela Jayawardene. The latter has on occasions got out to rash strokes, but this time put his head down, played sensible cricket, provided Jayasuriya valuable support, besides striking a couple of delectable boundaries himself.
As Jayasuriya approached his hundred, the Lankan captain was afflicted by cramps, and when just one short of a well-deserved hundred, got a leading edge while trying to turn the off-spin of Virender Sehwag, and Ganguly made no mistake at short mid-wicket.
And then we witnessed the stunning volley of runs in the end overs with the dangerous Russel Arnold cutting loose. Arnold and the strokeful Romesh Kaluwitharana added 78 for the fifth wicket in just 63 balls and this was the phase when the game completely swung the home team's way. Arnold's 45-ball 52 was a precious effort with the left-hander finding the gaps with ease.
The Indians left the field a tired lot, having chased the leather for most part. One man who could hold his head high was off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, whose 10-0-29-2, bowled in two spells, was an outstanding piece of bowling in the context of the game. Considering that the rest of the bowlers were easy picking for the Lankans, it was surprising why medium-pacer Reetinder Singh Sodhi was not given a single over.
The less said about the Indian fielding the better. Jayasuriya survived a couple of chances, flicking Nehra through Zaheer's hands at short fine-leg and then seeing Zaheer again not being in the right position to hold the catch at long-off as he lofted Yuveraj. And in the early overs, Gunawardene edged Zaheer between 'keeper Sameer Dighe and first slip V. V. S. Laxman. Such chances have to be converted if a side intends to win the top prize.
Chasing 296 for the Cup, the Indians required a bright opening stand to propel the innings, but the opposite happened. The Indians were off to a disastrous start. Virender Sehwag, who had blazed his way to glory against New Zealand, fell victim to a direct hit from Arnold at point to the non-striker's end as Ganguly sent the Delhi batsman back.
And off the very next ball, the Indian skipper perished, cutting the fiery Dilhara Fernando, straight into Arnold at point. Laxman, producing some rasping cover drives off Chaminda Vaas, and Dravid put together a 56-run partnership for the third wicket, but when Dravid dragged a Fernando delivery on to his stumps, and Laxman flicked offie Kumara Dharmasena straight to Mahela Jayawardene at the mid-wicket, the writing was on the wall. And it was virtually over for India soon with Hemang Badani becoming a run-out victim and Yuveraj Singh attempting to cut Arnold only to see the ball rattling the timber. And when Muttiah Muralitharan was introduced later in the innings - this was a deliberate ploy - the Indian misery was compounded with the off-spin wizard getting the ball to turn alarmingly.
The Lankans completed the formalities, won the Cup and took a little ride in the car won by the Man of the Series Jayasuriya. For the Indians, it was the same old story once again.
The scores:Sri Lanka: S. Jayasuriya c Ganguly b Sehwag 99; A. Gunawardene lbw b Harbhajan 34; M. Atapattu c Ganguly b Sehwag 5; M. Jayawardene lbw b Harbhajan 57; R. Arnold c Ganguly b Zaheer 52; R. Kaluwitharana (not out) 31. Extras (lb-8, w-8, nb-1) 17. Total (for five wickets in 50 overs) 295.
Fall of wickets: 1-71, 2-100, 3-204, 4-218, 5-295.
India bowling: Zaheer 8-0-58-1; Nehra 9-0-65-0; Harbhajan 10-0-29-2; Sehwag 9-0-58-2; Ganguly 4-0-20-0; Yuveraj 10-0-57-0.
India: S. Ganguly c Arnold b Fernando 1; V. Sehwag (run out) 4; V. V. S. Laxman c Jayawardene b Dharmasena 37; R. Dravid b Fernando 21; H. Badani (run out) 22; Y. Singh b Arnold 6; R. Sodhi b Muralitharan 7; S. Dighe c Kaluwitharana b Vaas 23; Harbhajan Singh c Arnold b Muralitharan 15; Zaheer Khan b Vaas 16; A. Nehra (not out) 2. Extras (lb-6 w-7 nb-7) 20. Total (all out in 47.2 Overs) 174.
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-5, 3-61, 4-91, 5-100, 6-100, 7-114, 8-136, 9-169.
Sri Lanka bowling: Vaas 9.2-2-41-2; Fernando 10-2-32-2; Dharmasena 8-0-33-1; Jayasuriya 3-0-9-0; Arnold 7-1-21-1; Muralitharan 10-1-32-2.
EVERY team would love to have a Russel Arnold in it. A committed and clever performer, who seldom buckles under pressure, who takes wing when given more responsibility.
A cricketer with a mature head on young shoulders, Arnold has added a lot to the Lankan side in the last two years, when the team went through a transition phase, following the debacle in the World Cup '99.
There was much anger and anguish in the emerald isle after a listless performance from Sri Lanka, the defending champion, in the Old Blighty. The side failed to qualify for the Super-Six stage and several heads rolled when the team returned.Arjuna Ranatunga was no longer the captain and Sanath Jayasuriya took over the mantle. The selectors were clear in their idea - the side would be re-built. And among the younger lot, the key men were Mahela Jayawardene and Russel Arnold.
Coming in at No. 5 or 6, Arnold was being groomed to step into the shoes of the canny Ranatunga, who had authored several come-backs by Lanka with intelligent rather than flashy stroke-play.
And Arnold displayed exactly this quality when he dismantled the Indian attack with clinical strokeplay, reaching 52 off just 42 deliveries.
The 27-year-old southpaw is strong square and behind the wicket on either side, and when the bowlers err in either line or length, can put the loose deliveries away without too much fuss.
Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan discovered this the hard way with Arnold flicking, cutting and guiding them almost disdainfully. Another feature of the left-hander's batting is the ease with which he picks the gaps.
Nehra had a man on the point fence and another on a squarish third-man, yet Arnold invariably managed to place the ball between the two fielders.
Arnold and Kaluwitharana raised 78 in just 63 balls for the fifth wicket as the Lankans raced to a match-winning score. Yet, it was sensible batting rather than spectacular strokeplay from the southpaw. Interestingly, Arnold averages 40 in ODIs.
And he is always in the game. When the Indians batted, Arnold was quickly into the picture, firing in a direct throw from point to run out the dangerous Virender Sehwag at the non-striker's end, holding a nice catch off the next delivery as Ganguly cut Fernando and then sending down a useful spell of off-spin bowling, castling Yuveraj Singh in the process.
Yes, he is a brilliant fielder, runs wonderfully well between the wickets and is a more than useful off-spin bowler. Such a man is bound to make a difference, especially in knock-out games.
The Man of the Final was a just reward for this hard-working cricketer. More such awards should come his way in the future.
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