Aah! what a start for Sri Lanka. After scoring a whopping 319 for 8 batting first after being asked to, they proved too good on the field restricting their much-favoured opposition to 202 for 7. Rain might have saved the hosts from an embarrassing defeat but the ubiquitous Duckworth-Lewis method meant that the South Africans ended up on the losing side with the match being lost by 55 runs. The two people Sri Lanka need to thank are Tillakaratne Dilshan and Ajantha Mendis who were outstanding on Tuesday.
If south Africans went with two spinners Johan Botha and Roelof van der Merwe, the Lankan lions went in with more lethal and outstanding spin duo–Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis. The South Africans did have a cameo from their skipper Graeme Smith who scored a fighting 58 after losing Hashim Amla early in their chase got superb support from Jacques Kallis who made 41. But once Ajantha Mendis removed Smith off his first ball, the match was literally out of their hands. Mendis showed why he can be dangerous when he bowls under the lights and his googly and the carrom ball were literally unplayable by the Proteas.
Earlier in the day, it was Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene all the way after Graeme Smith won the toss and chose to field on a wicket that played true and Proteas’ plans backfired and how.
The hosts started well when their pacer Dale Steyn removed Sanath Jayasuriya cheaply, but that was the one of the few good things they did right on the field. Mahela and Dilshan batted beautifully, mixing caution with aggression and the hold which the hosts had in the game vanished off swiftly. Dilshan made 106 while Mahela was solid in his 77. The other contributors were Sangakkara who made 54 and Samraweera made 37.
One of the biggest blunders which Graeme Smith did was choosing Wayne Parnell over Makhaya Ntini which was a shocker. While he might have removed Mahela and Thilan Samaraweera, he went off for one too many. On a wicket which required common sense to be used in abundance, the South Africans were falling short. South Africa appeared to the cuts, ferocious pulls, quick singles taken by the Sri Lankan batsmen helped them to surge ahead and they ended their innings with 319 for 8 and Dilshan continued to impress everyone who has hailed him as the newest batting baron on any wicket. While he played his natural game throughout, what was impressive about his batting was his application and his aggression which yielded him yet another hundred that was going to go on a winning cause.
The areas for concern for South Africa are as follows:
1. Will Herschelle Gibbs be fit enough for the next match?
2. Makhaya Ntini MUST replace Parnell and right away.
The hosts will need to pull up their socks to hit back or else they will continue to remain ‘Chokers!’
{ 0 comments… add one now }