Sidath and Dilshan at Lord's:

The tale of two openers

By Ravi LADDUWAHETTY

CRICKET: Sidath Wettimuny's 190 runs at Lord's in Sri Lanka's maiden Test will be remembered for a long time. Sidath, in his own right, is a unique batsman. However, in the eyes of the English cricketing fraternity, they, would have never expected what was in store for them at the inaugural Lord's Test against Sri Lanka that year.

They would never have expected him to have scored that blistering 190 runs , taking the time it took and 190 runs which it took, a total of 656 minutes. The innings was so impeccable which promoted the then Editorial Director and later chief Cricket Correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, the six foot two, lanky and effervescent Christopher Martin Jenkins, who in a raving review of that innings, a raving review of the game sagely wrote in his kick off paragraph that "the record for the longest innings for a Test batsman at Lord's now belonged to a Sri Lankan vegetarian... and that was Sidath Wettimuny.

Sidath, after all was Sri Lanka's first Test centurion. He was technically perfect and we all know how he plays the ball very close to his body, an absolutely perfect technician. Some of the English commentators were remarking that if the young cricketers in the County Cricket circuit could watch how Sidath played in defence and how his feet moved when he moved on the backfoot to defend the short pitched deliveries which were a shining example.

It also goes without saying that one needs to have a fantastic temperament to carry on with the bat which he did, in an innings which lasted over ten hours.

However, the other unfortunate aspect that despite Sidath's skill levels, many were of the opinion that he was over-cautious. Had he been not so, many were of the opinion that he would have topped the 250 run mark in that match. That was the only criticism that we have heard of that star studded knock, but all in all that was an epic innings that Sri Lankans could be proud of.

It is also moot to note that the backdrop in which Sri Lanka played that Lord's Test in 1984 was at a time that Sri Lanka had played only a One off Test for quite some time prior to securing a three Test series since the inaugural Test versus England at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, where Sri Lanka was led by Bandula Warnapura who was also Sidath's opener while the opposing skipper was Keith Fletcher, who also has the record for the slowest Test Century of 106 taking three days!!

It should also be remembered that Sidath mentioning at an interview how some unruly elements had stormed the Lord's Ground at the time that the match was played to protest against the dark periods of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, but that was at a time that Sri Lanka was ravaged by war.

Sidath, albeit the destruction to the start of play, was never rattled. He played the bowling in its own merits, and entertaining to watch.

However, cricket is a funny game and 27 years later, we come to the year 2011, and an epoch making 193 by skipper Thilakaratne Dilshan, would be remembered by him and the rest of the Sri Lankan team and also along with the Mareleyebourne Cricketing fraternity for many years to come.

One also has to take into context that Dilshan scored that epic innings.

There would have been lots that would have been going through his mind from the first Test at Cardiff. More often than not, a captain could get demoralised when his team is bowled out for a paltry 82 in less than 25 overs. What should have been a drawn Test, was lost by an innings. Getting close to a total of 486, playing with only seven specialist batsmen.

One could imagine the pressures that Dilshan had on him with the two other specialist batsmen Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayewardene yet to reach form. Dilshan had to carry the innings and Sri Lanka on his shoulders when he went into bat with Tharanga Paranavithana. It was also the backdrop of facing the three England fast bowlers- Stuart Broad, Steve Finn and Chris Tremlett. All six footers.

When one faces such six foot fast bowlers, the aye- arm action and coordination could be mesmerising. When Sri Lanka were batting, they were the sitting ducks against the short delivery. Dilshan proved to the entire cricketing fraternity that he compiled such a classy innings under tremendous pressure, acutely conscious of the fact that his middle order and late order were still getting used to the English conditions. The other factor was the need to get close to 486.

Dilshan rose to the occasion, playing positive cricket. We know that he does not move his feet as much as he moves his eye-hand coordination was exceptional. When he drove from the up, there was not much of feet movement but his hands were very quick at the delivery. He drove on the up and he made fully sure that he cut short of the dangerous deliveries that he would normally execute. He is known to cut the ball very close to his body outside the off stump. He completely refrained from doing so.

On the contrary, he concentrated on anything that was short. He closed the face of the bat when he pulled. Normally, he tends to get caught at fine leg or at the deep mid wicket regions because when he pulls, he tends to open the face of the bat. But here, he had closed the face of the bat which was a lovely to watch. Moreover, anything short of the stumps, he would drive through the line. In short, he did not hold back any of the strengths that he played square of the off side.

To add to the strengths of Dilshan's innings, there was no third man either! Andrew Strauss made the cardinal error by not having a third man for Dilshan. The Englishmen were bamboozled with his performances, being the player who did not use the eye-hand coordination.

Dilshan deserved a lot more in terms of an innings than what he actually scored. In fact, a well deserved double hundred. The first Sri Lanka to have done so. Another matter to savour were the twin hits that he had out of the park. He went after Grahan Swann, who is knows as one of the finest wrist spinners.

Dilshan hit him out of the length and that was the reason why Sri Lanka was able to score so many runs. He was oozing in confidence, and dented in self belief.