Lankans surrender without a fight

The Sri Lankan cricketers who huffed and puffed their way into the semi-finals of the ICC World Cup Twenty20 in the Caribbean were shown the way home by England who slapped a seven wicket defeat on them at the Gross Islet on Thursday.

Being in the semi-final,a lot was expected of the Sri Lankans. But after winning the all important toss and taking strike on a wicket that looked good for a lot of runs,the batting which looked chicken hearted crumbled without offering any resistance for just 128.

Had it not been for another lion hearted batting effort by the consistent and reliable Angelo Mathews who treated the English attack with disdain scoring a great 58, the Lankan total would have looked miserable.

Mathew realised the gravity of the situation and played an innings that was an example to his more experienced batting team mates who chickened out, gifting their wickets and made the England bowling look unplayable.

No excuses

The front line Sri Lankan batting have no excuses to offer. They seemed to lack the temperament and application needed for the big occasion and it was a sad sight to watch the batsmen coming in and going without offering any resistance.

As for England it must be said that they had studied the strong points and the weak ones in the Sri Lanka get up and bowled in the right areas to baffle and lure them to self destruct.

The bowlers bowled the correct line and length and teased the batsmen who were clueless against the slow bouncer.

To stay in the hunt, the Sri Lankan cricketers had to beat the Indians and they did that in style when Chamara Kapugedera bludgeoned a six off the final over of the final delivery to give the Lankans a five-wicket victory.

Final deliver

In the final delivery bowled by left arm paceman Ashish Nehra, three runs were required for victory. All hearts on the ground and those watching would have missed a few beats with Nehra running in to bowl.

Kapugedera the batsman took his stance unperturbed as a lot depended on him. The outcome of the game, a win or a loss depended on him. He made his team mates and supporters jump for joy when he nonchalantly lofted the delivery for six.

I have often written about Kapugedera and the potential that he blessed with. But surprisingly he has not done justice to that immense potential. He is strongly built with superb foot work, timing, strokes all round the wicket and the ability to go over the top with ease. But for no apparent reason he has not delivered.

Clever hitting

But when it mattered most he delivered and it was his and Angelo Mathews belligerent and clever hitting that gave Sri Lanka victory and put them into the semis and if the Lankans play like they did against the Indians there is no reason why the ICC Twenty20 World Cup should not be theirs.

When the Indian were off to a superb start with runs flowing freely, it looked as though the Indians were going for victory with a vengeance in their endeavour to keep their slim hopes of entering the semis alive.

But the Lankan bowlers spearheaded by slinger Lasith Malinga and and the hard working Angelo Mathews put the brakes on the Indian batting. That they strangled the Indian batsmen and conceded just 73 runs in the final ten overs was excellent.

Mathews who has now become a must in the Lankan team, showed his more than all round ability. He bowled a telling spell and then coming in early to take strike, displayed his capability as a reliable batsman by hitting the fours and sixes when it was most needed.

Wretched run

After losing Mahela Jayawardena and Sanath Jayasuriya cheaply, Tillekeratne Dilshan who has had a wretched run with the bat, put the Lankans on the victory trail, by punishing the Indian bowlers.

Dilshan and skipper Kumar Sangakkara put the Lankan batting on the rails. But a sudden rush of blood saw Sangakkara play an irresponsible stroke and gift his wicket which left the Lankans to sink or swim.

It was then that the two youngsters Mathews and Kapugedera joined forces to show what responsibility is all about to cleverly devastate and demoralize the threatening Indian bowlers and bring their side a victory tat they will always cherish and remember.

As skipper a big responsibility rested on Sangakkara's shoulders. He should have made it his business to stay put in the middle and steer the Lankan batting ship to victory. But the shot he played to sacrifice his wicket and put the onus on the in coming batsmen was unacceptable. Hope he will bat with more responsibility next time round.

Slim chance

To the Australia- West Indian game which followed the Lanka- India game, the Indians had to win to keep the West Indians afloat with a slim chance of making further progress.

The hosts had to beat the Australians by a handsome margin to deprive the Lankans of further progress. But the Windies cricketers who were closing following the India-Lanka game were demoralized when the Lankans beat the Indians.

And that the West Indians looked demoralized was visible the way they capitulated to the mighty Aussies with out offering a semblance of a fight. The West Indians when they lost skipper Chris Gayle bowled by the consistent Dirk Nannes, the game was good as over.

They collapsed for 105 and the Aussies marched to victory without having to raise a sweat. The game that offered so much for the players and the local spectators who flocked to the venue, was as flat as a flat soda.

Lasantha Fernando passes away

Lasantha Fernando who was one of the outstanding cricketers in the Benedictine unofficial champion team in 1957 passed away recently after a brief illness. In that team that was led by Lovellyn Rayen, Lasantha was an all rounder.

The members of that team that brought about a renaissance in Benedictine cricket were - Lovellyn Rayen -capt-, Neville Casiechetty -vc-, Anslem Ludoyeke, Ranjit Jayawardena, Lionel Fernando, Lasantha Fernando, Cecil Waidyaratne, Neville Wickremasinghe, Benjamin Silva, Douglas Faux, Anton Abeysekera, Elmo Rodrigopulle, Fritzroy Ponniah and Allan Gunesekera. Coach Edward Kelaart. Master-in-charge A. Gnanapragsam.

He bowled right arm cutters, was a safe fielder and a hard hitting middle order batsman. He also played for the University and in addition to his cricket was a promising tennis player and it was in tennis that he blossomed.

Lasantha represented the country in tennis. He won many national titles, here and abroad which are too numerous to mention. Lasantha leaves his wife and three children.

May his soul rest in peace.