A series full of M & Ms
Two Test series are very much in vogue currently unless you are Indian, Australian or English. Sri Lanka did not buck the trend when they entertained the South Africans to a two-Test series way back in July/August 2006 at the SSC and the P. Sara Stadium.
While the absence of Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis in no way impinged on their bowling resources, their proven expertise at the top of the order, their slip fielding abilities and in Smith’s case, his from-the-front leadership were surely missed. At that point, Smith had been in the saddle for around three years but had already provided ample evidence of his skills.
Kumar Sangakkara may have leap-frogged Mahela Jayawardena in the batting stakes, but eight years ago, the latter was more or less the master of all the surveyed. Inevitably, Sri Lankan wins are tied up with the phenomenal success of Muttiah Muralitharan and these two Tests were no exception.
Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene notch up the highest Test partnership, Sri Lanka v South Africa, 1st Test, Colombo, 3rd day, July 29, 2006
SSC July 26 – 30
The visitors were rolled over soon enough after they opted for first lease. Dilhara Fernando (4/48) and Muralitharan (4/41) combined their diverse talents to restrict the Ashwell Prince led South Africans to a modest 169. De Villiers top scored with 65 while Jacques Rudolph’s 29 were the next best.
How inadequate this was and how sadly the visitors had thrown away the opportunity afforded by a sleeping-beauty of a pitch were soon evident when the batting machine of Sangakkara and Jayawardena set to work. 624 runs in tandem was the sum total of their efforts, with Jayawardena (374) out stripping team-mate Jayasuriya (340) to become Sri Lanka’s highest scorer in a Test innings. In the process, the 576 for the second wicket established by Mahanama and Jayasuriya against India at the R. Premadasa Stadium fell by the wayside.
Sangakkara’s 287 probably received less attention in comparison to his skipper’s monumental innings. Now his part in this massive stand was invaluable. Together, they drove a South African attack comprising Shaun Pollock, Mkaya Nitini, Andre Nel, Andrew Hall and Nicky Boje to distraction and total frustration. Sri Lanka’s 756 for 5 wickets was, at that point, the fifth highest total in Tests.
The South Africans could have been excused if they had laid down and died quietly after the energy and morale sapping sessions in the field. But that is not in the process make up. Instead, they came up with a commendable total of 434 second time round, with Rudolph (90), Mark Boucher (82), Hall (64) and Prince (51) showing the way. Murali put his hand up once more and toiled through 64 overs to grab 6 for 131. This was the 17th occasion on which he had a ten for (10/172) and it helped his team to win the opener by an innings and 153 runs.
P. Sara Stadium August 3 – 7
Prince’s luck with the toss continued and the visitors put up a good batting performance (361). AB de Villiers with 95, Prince (86), Pollock (57 n.o.), Amla (40) and Boucher (32) all stayed the course. Malinga welcomed the extra bounce at this venue. However Murali with 5/128 took the bowling honours. After Sanath Jayasuriya’s opening salvo (47), it was the middle order of Chamara Kapugedera (63), (a forgotten player, now), Chaminda Vaas (64), Farvez Maharoof (56) and Prasanna Jayawardena (42) that shored up the Sri Lankan innings of 327, conceding a lead of 40.
Herschelle Gibbs, whose contributions upto then had been modest turned up trumps with 92 while Boucher weighed in with 65. Hall (32) and AB (33) also helped out in the total of 311. Murali bettered his fine performances in this series with magnificent figures of 46.5-12-97-7. This came on top of his five for earlier and it gave him an impressive 22 wickets in the four innings. There was also a small matter of this being his 18th ten wicket haul.
Boje (4/111) and Hall (3/75) toiled manfully to prevent the hosts from reaching the total of 352. Sanath led off with 73 and Sangakkara a more modest 39. The other Jayawardena, Prasanna (30) and Maharoof (29 n.o.) made magnificent contributions. However, the defining, match and series winning innings, was played by skipper Jayawardena. His 123, statistically was not as mind-boggling as his 374, yet in the context of a crunch game where everything hinged on what he did, was in all probability even greater. In the gathering gloom and, amidst stifling tension, the last-wicket-pair of Maharoof and Malinga eked out the last few precious runs.
Que Sera Sera excellent cover point Gibbs was forced to field in the slip cordon to man in place regular “slippers” Smith and Kallis. It fell to his lot to drop a regulation chance offered by the Sri Lankan skipper before he had got to twenty. On such lapses does the fate of series hang?
Coming to the present, Sangakkara and Jayawadena are still around, while Jayasuriya, Vaas and Dilhara Fernando have called it a day. It is cause for regret that Maharoof and Kapugedera no longer figure in the selectors thinking.
With a confident, more assertive and regularly-performing skipper in Mathews, a wicket-taking spinner in Herath (although he falls well short of the standard set by the eight hundred-wicket man) and an emerging crop of pacemen in Shaminda Eranga, Nuwan Pradeep, Dhammika Prasad and Suranga Lakmal, the Sri Lankans can look forward to this truncated series with
confidence.