Sri Lanka Cricket propels to the top
By A.C. De Silva
FLASHBACK: Sri Lanka has a really eye-catching achievement in their
ranks in cricket. At the R.Premadasa Stadium in the 1997-98 series
against India, Sri Lanka made 952 for 6 wickets in reply to India's 537
for 8 wickets declared.
The massive Sri Lanka score was made possible by second-wicket pair
of left-hander Sanath Jayasuriya (340) and Roshan Mahanama (225) who put
on 576 runs in their marathon partnership, batting almost two full days
to put the Sri Lankans on top.
After five days of record-breaking performances at the Premadasa
Stadium where the first Test between Sri Lanka and India ended in a a
draw, the eventual winner was cricket. Though Sanath Jayasuriya failed
to beat Brian Lara's record on that occasion by 40 runs, he was somewhat
compensated by Sri Lanka hitting up the highest-over Test score of 952
for 6 wickets on the fifth and final day of the match.
After the first two days were occupied by India of the wicket in
getting up their challenging total of 537 for 8 wickets at which score
they declared, Sri Lanka's batsmen dominated the scene on the final
three days on a pitch which turned out to be a heartbreak for the
bowlers.
Jayasuriya made that monumental knock of 340 in 799 minutes off 578
balls and he tucked into his knock 2 sixes and 36 fours with a fine
array of strokes and Mahanama took the cue and followed Jayasuriya's
knock with an equally good knock of 225 that had 26 fours and came in
753 minutes. The partnership between these two which realised 576 runs
and it was a record partnership for any wicket then.
However, this record stand was surpassed in July 2006 at the SSC
Grounds by fellow Sri Lankans Kumar Sangakkara and present skipper
Mahela Jayawardene who put on 624 runs for the third wicket against
South Africa. Sangakkara made 287 and Mahela Jayawardene made 374. In
that match Sri Lanka made 756 for 5 wickets and declared.
Cricket which was introduced to Sri Lanka (Ceylon) then in 1832
caught on and Ceylon's first club - the Colombo Cricket Club was founded
in 1832 and according to available statistics, Colombo Cricket Club lost
the first-ever match by ten wickets to the British Garrison (97th
Regiment).
Though the visits by international teams to the country were few, the
game caught on rapidly with the game becoming very popular and it caught
the fancy of the people around the country.
The highest total in first-class cricket in the early days was 549
for 8 wickets declared by the West Indies against Ceylon at the Colombo
Oval (now Saravanamuttu Stadium) on January 22 and 23 in 1967. The
massive West Indian total had centuries by Basil Butcher, Clive Lloyd
and the skipper then Garfield Sobers.
So, the interest for cricket caught on with the local players and the
spectators.
SCOREBOARD
INDIA 1ST INNINGS 537 for 8 wkts dec
SRI LANKA - 1ST INNINGS
S.T. Jayasuriya c Ganguly b Chauhan 340
M.S. Atapattu c Mongia b Kulkarni 26
R.S. Mahanama lbw b Kumble 225
P.A. de Silva c Prasad b Ganguly 126
A. Ranatunga run out 86
D.P.M. Jayawardene c Kulkarni b Ganguly 66
R.S. Kaluwitharana not out 14
U.C.J. Vass not out 11
Extras (B 27, LB 10, W-7, NB-14) 58
Total (for 6 wkts, 271 overs, 1,126 mins) 952
Did not bat: K.R. Pushpakumara, M. Muralitharan and K.J. Silva
Fall of wickets: 1-39, 2-615, 3-615, 4-780, 5-921, 6-924
Bowling: Prasad 24-1-88-0(W4)
Kuruwila 14-2-74-0 (N 4)
Chauhan 78-8-276-1 (W-3, NB-5)
Kumble 72-7-223-1 (NB-5)
Kulkarni 70-10-195-1
Ganguly 9-0-53-2
S. Tendulkar 2-1-2-0
R. David 2-0,4-0
Man of the match: S.T. Jayasuriya – Sri Lanka. |
