WHAT a week! Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushanth Joseph Chaminda Vaas, who probably has the longest name in international cricket, will never forget it.
Even before the celebrations for the 14 wickets he bagged in the third and final Test against the West Indians had come to an end, he was at it once again, this time steamrollering the Zimbabweans six days later, erasing the individual world record for bowling and also assisting the Sri Lankan team to another record in a one-day international. As if his career best of seven for 71 runs and a career best match bag of 14 for 191 were not sufficient, when he rolled over the Caribbeans, he went on to record unbelievable figures of 8-3-19-8 to bundle out the Zimbabweans for a paltry 39 runs in just 15.4 overs in the first one-dayer. It was the lowest one-day score in cricket history going below the Pakistan total of 43 runs against the West Indians in Cape Town, way back in 1992-93. In a rather pervasive way, it brought relief to fellow-commentator Ramiz Raja, a member of that Pakistan team, who had a rather deep scar to carry, until this pathetic Zimbabwean effort. The Sri Lankans reached the target for the loss of one wicket in a mere 4.2 overs thus completing the match in 20 overs and 108 minutes, the shortest ever in history. In fact there was very little need for the television producers to make a highlights package. Vaas' figures of eight for 19 surpassed his team-mate Muralitharan's world record of seven for 30 against the Indians at Sharjah in 2000/01.
There is a belief that the ball does move around in the first session of play at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground, but with the bright sunshine and the dry conditions, no one ever bargained for the devastation that Vaas provided, when Jayasuriya put Zimbabwe in, after winning the toss. Taking a cue from the great Dennis Lillee, who has been his idol and mentor, Chaminda Vaas believes in his first delivery being the best, at a time when the batsman would be feeling his way and would not have got his bearings properly. This makes very logical cricketing sense and he is rarely off his target, which is landing on off stump and hurrying towards middle stump. He did not fail this time too, and youngster Dion Ebrahim was trapped right in front, leg before first ball. Having picked up two wickets in his last two deliveries in the previous Test match, it was a hat-trick of a different kind. Vaas later went on to pick up three wickets off consecutive balls in the Zimbabwe innings and performed the hat-trick. In effect this would mean two hat-tricks by a bowler in international cricket (a mixture of Test and one-day cricket), but of course, and rightly so, the statisticians will not look at it that way. First change Muttiah Muralitharan, who cannot be kept out of action, just needed to bowl four deliveries to pick up two wickets for one run to finish things off.
The manner in which the Sri Lankans are performing at present, they appear to be more formidable and will be quite a threat in the World Cup in 2003.
With the teams setting their sights on the major event in South Africa, and slowly but surely peaking one by one, severe competition could be expected when the time comes around.
In the midst of violence and curfews, the performance of their cricket team once again has been a great tonic and a welcome sight from what has been taking place during the last few weeks for the Sri Lankans.
Cricket has been a major unifying factor in the country and Sanath Jayasuriya and his team continue to keep all Sri Lankans, irrespective of caste, creed or race, whichever nook and corner of the world they are in, joined together, cheering and backing their team, through thick and thin.
It is said that "the team makes the coach." How true this could be. Geoff Marsh has had his work cut out. With the Australians he made a name for himself and left the scene in glory. The Zimbabwe job is another cup of tea, and there is no doubt that it was the challenge that attracted him to the task. He will have plenty to do, in order to turn round the fortunes of this team. You cannot say they are short of experience when you count the number of games Grant and Andy Flower, Campbell, Streak and some of the other seniors have played. They must learn the ways to win. Winning is contagious, the same way losing could be. The Sri Lankans are a good example. Their pride suffers when they lose and this is what motivates them to win.
The West Indians do not seem to have an end to their problems. This time it is the sending back home of fast bowler Mervyn Dillon. The official version is 'disciplinary reasons', but it is rumoured that he did not want to go for practice on December 5, which was election day in Sri Lanka, as he feared for his safety, which is somewhat far fetched. Manager Skerritt and coach Harper obviously did not agree with him. They appear to be wielding the big stick and coming down hard on discipline. As discipline is vital for the development and the success of a team, it is good to see the West Indian Board backing the management to the hilt. This has been done despite three others Reon King, Dinanath Ramnarine and Leon Garrick returning home owing to injuries and Wavell Hinds going back due to a bereavement in his family. You could only look to the future by building foundations based on principles, whatever the obstacles that come in your way. The West Indians beat the Indians in the final of the last one-day triangular competition they were involved in, and that too without Brian Lara. All-rounder Darryl Brown from Trinidad and powerful striker Ricardo Powell have joined the team in Sri Lanka and I am sure that, despite the losses in the Test series, they will give the Sri Lankans, who are riding the crest of a wave, a run for their money.
Comments
SHARE