It’s not the end of the world

Traditionally, the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) has been a happy hunting ground for us Sri Lankans where we have won most of our recent matches. So, expectations were high when the team arrived from Brisbane where the game against the Indians ended in a washout.

Contrary to press reports, which had highlighted the ‘egg throwing’ incident, the boys were very focused on the game ahead. That incident itself was only a minor diversion. No one believed Murali was deliberately targeted even though the egg struck Don Arunasiri, the tour selector. We all had a good laugh about it and that was that.

The weather greeting us in Sydney however was not the brightest. It rained the entire day before the game but we knew the match would get underway at the SCG because the drainage system is so good-play is possible just thirty minutes after the showers cease!

Because of the overnight rain the SCG wicket-which anyway favours spinners- was bound to be slow and it was. Therefore, losing the toss was perhaps a disadvantage but I thought the bowlers made a pretty decent job of it.

Having discussed our washed out game against India-where we went in with a combination of seven batsmen and four bowlers with Sanath, Kapu and Dilshan bowling ten overs between them for 55 runs-we decided to stick to the seven-four plan.

In the end, I think the gamble paid off because we were able to restrict the powerful Aussie batting line-up to a total of 253 in their allotted overs. It may not have been a spectacular performance on our part but considering that they were 160 for three with twelve overs to go and seven wickets standing, the damage could have been much more.

There has been some discussion on whether we were giving away too many runs in the final few overs. It may not be unjustified criticism because 105 runs were scored by India in their last ten overs; the Aussies managed 75 runs in their last ten overs at Sydney. It is not something that we had not noticed.

What we must not forget is that one day cricket is a batsman’s game. Especially when the batting side has wickets in tact, they are likely to have a go at the bowling. India and Australia both had lost just four wickets at the forty over mark and this is precisely what happened.

The key to restricting the batsmen is to try and take wickets. We couldn’t do that against the Indians but we took two wickets against the Aussies-and they scored 27 runs less than the Indians in their last ten overs. As bowlers, we do try to get the yorkers and the slower balls in, and I believe we were somewhat successful against the Australians.

For me personally, it was a very satisfying bowling performance. I had gone wicketless and conceded 72 runs in the game against India and therefore doing well at Sydney was doubly important for me. I bowled reasonably well against the Indians and had a couple of chances and appeals going against me and therefore I hadn’t lost my confidence. I knew it was just one of those days.

But to overcome that, I had to do well against the Aussies and to end with two for 34 with the wickets of Ponting and Symonds in the bag was very satisfying personally. Overall too I thought the bowlers stuck to their task admirably because anything which was only just over 250 was a gettable score.

That our run chase faltered and fell far short was extremely disappointing for all of us especially after we had set ourselves a reasonable target after a hard days work in the field. I must admit that our batting is a cause for concern.

We have discussed our batting at length and the idea is for at least one of the top three or four to try and bat through and for others to bat around him. Sadly, this has not happened and we found it difficult to build partnerships-our highest partnership was just 39 runs between Kumar and Mahela.

It was as if everyone was trying to get runs quickly-and getting out in the process. Even though the team was packed with batsmen, there was no one taking responsibility and putting his head down and playing a long innings. Obviously, all of us should share the blame for this.

This is a game where we learn every day and I think the Indians showed us the way on Tuesday at the Gabba. They were 83 for four in the 21st over with Murali running circles around them. But Gambhir and Dhoni hung in there and got themselves to 267 by the end of their innings. It is a performance for us to reflect on, especially in the light of our own batting performance against the Aussies.

I must hasten to add that there is no need to panic-and there is nothing of that sort in the dressing room. All the batsmen are middling the ball well at practice and it is a matter of getting it right when they are in the middle. There is a general feeling that we are just one game away from success.

Our next outing will be against India in Canberra on Tuesday. We have six more games and we need to win four to be certain of qualifying for the finals. This is a tough tournament and we know that. Against India, we have to be at our best and we aim to get Sachin and Shewag early to put the pressure on the other batsmen.

On the plus side, we are fighting fit, with no injury concerns. Sanath’s injury has healed completely and even Murali has recovered from the nasty accident he had on the field today. It will be a good contest, with both teams looking for their first win of the tournament. We hope to give it our best shot because we know that the team which makes the lesser number of mistakes will win.