The Chandimal-de Silva grit brings back the Lankan fight
View(s):By S.R.Pathiravithana
Dhananjaya de Silva pulls one to the ropes - Pix by Amila Gamage
From rags to riches may be an understatement. This saying applied to this entire series as a whole and especially to the first day of the third Test between Sri Lanka and Australia which got underway at the Sinhalese Sports Club Grounds, yesterday.
First, against all odds, the Lankans beat their worthy opponents in a Test series and then yesterday morning recovered from a hopeless 5 wickets down for 26 to end the day at 214 for 5. Dhananjaya de Silva ended the day at 116 not out and Dinesh Chandimal remained not out on 64, while putting an unbeaten 188 stand for the sixth wicket. During the series various heroes took centre-stage at most crucial moments. In the first Test it was young Kusal Mendis along with veteran Rangana Herath, who turned the match on its head and beat the Australians.
In the second Test it was the turn of Dilruwan Perera to take the limelight. Then in the third Test with the Lankans ready to party while thinking of a Aussie whitewash the Starc and Lyon power almost pulled the rug beneath their feet. But, this time 20-four-year old Dhananjaya de Silva under the guidance of his senior partner Dinesh Chandimal saw to it that the Lankan fight is still on with the help of that memorable stand. Yet, at the same time the role that Chandimal has begun to play in the Lankan middle-order is commendable. Now he lives almost invisibly. Now his role has become that of a builder and provider rather than a brash young man who enjoys the sound of leather meeting willow.
In spite of the series being wrapped and the Murali-Warne Trophy about to be a part of the memorabilia at the SLC Trophy chest, the game had its interest still intact and the third Test was on in all the glory.
The decision to bat on a wicket somewhat similar to the one at Pallekelle had it own concerns and the results almost the same. Once again the two erring openers Kaushal Silva and Dimuth Karunaratne undid all their past deeds in unison. Yet, at a time when good opening batsmen are a rare breed, the Lankan management must be wondering as to what magic portion is needed get this anomaly rectified.
End of a hard day's work -- De Silva and Chandimal walk back at stumps on Day 1
The happiest were the bunch of Aussies, who had concocted a lethal portion in Mitchel Starc and Nathan Lyon. While Starc’s pace was hissing with venom, Lyon was turning the ball in squares in spite of it being the first session of the first day. Mind you lunch was taken at 55 for 5, that too after an 29-run stand between vice captain Dinesh Chandimal (7 not out) and Dhananjaya de Silva (23 not out).
The SSC wicket generally is notorious for its early life, especially in the period before lunch. But, what was bewildering was the early sharp turn and low bounce off the bowling of Lyon. The Australians scalping the top order of Kusal Janith Perera, Kusal Mendis and skipper Angelo Mathews simply cleaned up the Lankan larder till it was empty.
The mayhem with the Lankan scoring reading a bleak 5 for 26 was halted soon after. Chandimal and de Silva built on the pre-lunch foundation. Bolder and younger of the two — de Silva kept on going for his strokes and never let the bowlers rule the roost. At the other end Chandimal held on to his cool and never let his natural aggression get the better of him. The combination worked and the Lankan experienced a partial recovery. Besides the Lankans also had the luxury of eating into both Australian bowling reviews soon after they had reached the 100 mark and the half century of de Silva.
In the post-lunch session as the wicket began to dry, the two also decided to settle and wicket became more conducive for batting, but stroke-making was not that easy. Still the wicket was dry and dusty and at one end it needed a lot of tinkering to keep wicket damaged by bowlers’ footprints.
When play was stopped for tea the Lankan total looked much better than it did during the lunch break, at 141 for 5 with de Silva not out on 74 and Chandimal not out on 37. The Lankan duo had batted through a session of play without a mishap, besides a dropped catch just before the break of de Silva off Holland.
As the inning grew and the two batsmen got closer to their personal marks understandably the scoring rate took a tumble. Yet, the magic was that both batsmen simultaneously scored their respective 50 and one hundred.
Chandimal’s 50 came in 165 balls with four fours while de Silva’s 100 came in 209 balls and 15 fours. This was followed by the second new ball taken by the Australians.
Scoreboard
Sri Lanka 1st innings
Kaushal Silva c Smith b Starc 0
(Faced 15 deliveries; full, fast, tempting delivery, doesn’t move his front foot forward or cross to counter the challenge, flushes away from the body and nicks to second slip)
Dimuth Karunaratne b Starc 7
(In the 34th delivery he faces a tempting length ball, which he faces early, but the ball slides through bat and front pad to hit the stumps to fall victim to Starc for the fifth time in the series)
Kusal Perera c Smith b Lyon 16
(Pitches full and angles on the off stump, but doesn’t leave the batsman to adjust in time, gets an outside edge to the slip. Faced 32 deliveries and hit three fours)
Kusal Mendia c Smith b Starc 1
(Dreadful shot to a delivery that had perfect line and length, pitching outside off, drives and nicks to the slips in the 12th delivery he faced)
Angelo Mathews c Starc b Lyon 1
(Just faced four deliveries to sweep for a quicker ball that pitched not as full as the batsman expected, top edges and caught at long leg)
Dinesh Chandimal not out 64
(Faced 204 deliveries; hit 4 fours)
Dhananjaya de Silva not out 116
(Faced 240 deliveries; hit 16 fours)
Extras (b4, lb5) 9
Total (5 wickets; 90 overs) 214
Still to bat: Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath, Lakshan Sandakan, Suranga Lakmal
Fall-of-wickets: 1-2 (Silva), 2-21 (K. Perera), 3-23 (Karunaratne), 4-24
(Mathews), 5-26 (Mendis)
Bowling: Mitchell Starc 18-7-47-3, Josh Hazlewood 11-3-27-0, Nathan Lyon 34-9-72-2, Jon Holland 21-5-34-0, Mitchell Marsh 5-0-20-0, Steven Smith 1-0-5-0
Australia: David Warner, Shaun Marsh, Steven Smith (Capt), Adam Voges, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill (wk), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Jon Holland
Toss: Sri Lanka
Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZ); Sundaram Ravi (India)
TV Umpire: Richard Kettleborough (England)
Match Referee: Chris Broad
Reserve Umpire: Ruchira Palliyaguruge