Sports - Masterclass on show

It was six sessions of watching batting at its brilliant best. Near midway on the third session of Day one – a Thursday – South Africa had completed their first innings and Sri Lanka had already lost two wickets, to make it twelve for the day. It was at that point those six sessions began.

Why this was so absorbing was because we witnessed a complete batting performance. Kumar Sangakkara took awhile to settle down. Mahela Jayawardena was different, he was composed and organized.

That was to be expected with the captain having a test century and two ODI hundreds under his belt in the recently concluded tour of England. As opposed to that Sangakkara could not notch a century. A century means so much to a batsman. It boosts the confidence, becomes a huge learning experience and the whole process of batting progress another notch.

The setting was such that the pair had to cut off taking chances, as the openers were back in the pavilion. About the time the team score reached one hundred, the first day was nearing an end and they played to be together for the next day.

On resumption they found the pitch had eased-up, the moisture dried up, and the going was much easier. The South Africans had not found their feet yet in Sri Lankan conditions and the now in form pair began to feel they were onto a good thing.

Where they were unbeatable was in that they kept playing correct cricket strokes and hitting as many deliveries along the ground. In the 950 ball association only one six was hit and in fact that was the only one attempted. They were totally committed to not taking any chances.

Add to that they ran between the wickets excellently. All the singles were taken, they ran the two’s and three’s well too. This process went on and on right through the partnership, a Herculean effort of both physical and mental strength.In the time they were together records tumbled, milestones were reached. A whole lot of them, perhaps too many to mention in one go. In the end they went past their own countrymen. Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama after nine years at the top relinquished their position as the top scoring pair in test cricket and Jayawardena went past Jayasuriya to become the highest individual run scorer.