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Down memory lane:
Sri Lanka first Associate Member of ICC to beat India
by A.C./ De Silva
Old Trafford, June 16th 1979 ..... The day was lucky and Sri Lanka's
victory was the first by an Associate Member of the ICC in eleven
Prudential Cup matches involving Canada (3), East Africa (3) and Sri
Lanka (5).
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Sunil Wettimuny made a fine knock of 67 and helped Sri Lanka
to make 67 and pushed the Sri Lanka to make 238. |
Tony Opatha took 3 for 31 and India were somewhat were dismissed cheaply
for 191.
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The day before, it rained but the outfield had recovered sufficiently
from the previous day's rain before Sri Lanka, put into bat by India,
could begin their innings.
Having played through the ICC Trophy series and two matches in the
Prudential Cup, the Sri Lankans were thoroughly acclimatised to English
conditions and were considered to be with a real chance of victory
against an Indian side dispirited by two defeats in its two previous
matches.
Sri Lanka certainly lacked no incentive to record the first victory
by an Associate Member of ICC against a senior country for, apart from
local pride if such a concept can be said to exist at an international
level, any claims Sri Lanka might put forward for full membership could
only be enhanced by success on the field.
Lankan captain Tennekoon pulls out
Sri Lanka were without their experienced Captain Anura Tennekoon,
with hamstring trouble, but they battled with purpose, control and
considerable skill.
The opening attack was seen off but them, with 31 on the board, the
action Captain Warnapura fell to Amarnath. Wettimuny remained and with
Dias and then Mendis steered the innings on a course which all sides in
the competition would have chosen to follow. When numbers 2, 3 and 4 in
the order can provide a splendid follow through.
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Sunil Gavaskar made somewhat adequate score of 26 in the total of 191.
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Below Sri Lanka’s Roy Dias who made 50 and on right the
right-arm spinner D.S. De Silva who took 3 for 29 in the
Indian score of 191. |
Wettimuny was soundly effective, and put on 96 for the second wicket
at just four runs an over with Dias who was nible enough to score a
rapid 50 despite only finding the boundary twice. At the fall of the
second wicket in the 40th over, Wettimuny's innings ended and Mendis
arrived with more robust temperament and technique.
He stayed for no more than 18 overs yet while he was at the crease
100 runs were added to the score and he contributed 64 of them.
He went to meet every bowler, hit each of the three seamers for a
six, and his flourish allowed Sri Lanka to score at eight an over for
the last ten.
For Sri Lanka, the most important event of the 1979 World Cup played
in England, was the win against India. It was the first time an
Associate Member had beaten a Full Member in the World Cup. Mendis
batted well until he was run out for 64. During this tour, Mendis became
the first Sri Lankan batsman to score 1000 runs in an English season
24M-1066R-87.1 Av. (all matches)
India failed to reach expected target
The Sri Lankans had paced the innings to perfection and reached a
score which had so far only been exceeded by the West Indies in the 1979
competition, and the total asked India to reach heights they had been
unable to attain previously if they were to win when they resumed on
that Monday morning.
India got off to a fine start when Gavaskar and Gackwad finding
little to trouble them in the Sri Lankan opening attack. However both
were dismissed before lunch.
India lose quick wickets
Even so, with eight wickets in hand and 122 runs needed at a little
under five an over, most gambling money must surely have been carried by
India. That was before Viswanath ran himself out and Somachandra de
Silva picked up the dangerous trio of Vengsarkar, Patel and Amarnath to
reduce India to 147 for 5 wickets.
Stantley de Silva (D.S. de S) then had Kapil Dev caught by Warnapura
for 16 and 160 for 6 wickets became 191 all out in the 55th over when
Opatha came back to eliminate any chance of effective resistance from
the 'tail' with an impressive spell during which he took 3 wickets while
conceding only 11 runs to complete a technical, if only comparative,
feat of giant-killing.
SCOREBOARD
SRI LANKA
B. Warnapura c Gackwad b Amarnath 18
S.R. Wettimuny c Vengsarkar b Kapil Dev 67
R.L. Dias c and b Amarnath 50
D. Mendis run out 64
R.S. Madugalle c Khanna b Amarnath 04
S.P. Pasqual not out 23
D.S. de Silva not out 01
EXTRAS (lb 8, w 2, nb 1) 11
TOTAL (60 overs) ..... 5 wkts 238
Did not bat: S.A. Jayasinghe, A.R.M. Opatha, D.L.S. De Silva
F.R.M. Goonetilleke
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-31, 2-127, 3-147, 4-175, 5-227.
BOWLING: Kapil Dev 12-2-53-1
M. Amarnath 12-3-40-3
S. Venrataraghavan 12-0-44-0
K.D. Ghavri 12-0-53-0
Bishen Bedi 12-2-37-0
Man of the Match: Duleep Mendis (Sri Lanka)
INDIA
S.M. Gavaskar c Dias b Warnapura.... 26
A.D. Gachwad c sub b D.L.S. de Silva 33
D.B. Vengsarkar c D.L.S. De Silva b D.S. DE Silva 36
G.R. Viswanath run out 22
B.P. Patel b D.S. De Silva 10
Kapil Dev c Warnapura b D.L.S. De Silva 16
M. Amarnath b D.S. De Silva 07
K.D. Ghavri c Warnapura b Opatha 03
S.C. Khanna c Dias b Opatha 10
S. Venkataraghavan not out 09
B.S. Bedi c Jayasinghe b Opatha 05
EXTRAS: (lb 10, w 3, nb 1) 14
TOTAL: (54.1 overs) 191
Fall OF WICKETS: 1-60, 2-76, 3-119, 4-132, 5-147, 6-160, 7-162
8-170, 9-185
BOWLING: T. Opatha 10-1-31-3
B. Warnapura 12-0-47-1
D.S. De Silva 11-1-29-3
Goonetilleke 9-1-34-0
D.L.S. De Silva 12-0-36-2 |
