Chamara was just brilliant

The recently concluded tour to India had its pluses and minuses. Unquestionably, the biggest plus was the batting of Chamara Silva in the fourth and final game.

He was carrying drinks and towels and helmets and whatever else his team mates required in the earlier games. He hadn’t had a hit in a one day game for a while either. In fact after the half century and blistering century in the second test in New Zealand he had gone into a shell.

Now he was produced with an opportunity. This evolved with Upul Tharanga going through a spell of low scores and Marvan Atapattu being slotted into the opening berth. The gap in the middle was filled by Silva. In fact he got the opportunity of going ahead of the more experienced T.M. Dilshan and Russel Arnold.

The situation had just tilted in India’s favour when he walked in. From forty two for no loss the Sri Lankans lost three wickets for the addition of just ten runs. Not an easy situation with the Indian pacemen Zaheer Khan, Ajith Agarkar and Sreesanth charging in with their tails up. There was assistance for the bowlers off the pitch too and the going was tough. Shortly after Sri Lanka lost Atapattu and were then reeling at 56 for 4 wickets. Silva had to play a big innings and the team needed to squeeze out every run that Dilshan and Arnold could muster. Silva and Dilshan began cautiously. Silva in particular had to find his feet, not having spent much time in the middle recently.

He stuck well to the basics. Firstly, playing as many with a straight bat and working the ones and twos. Sri Lanka needed one batsman to go through to the end and the least experienced of them all. Chamara Silva was the player who put his hand up. With Dilshan he steadied the boat. Their partnership of sixty eight runs was valuable. Just when they seemed to be getting on top of the situation Dilshan fell to part time bowler, Sourav Ganguly. A stroke out of context, lofting the ball and paying the penalty.

Russel Arnold continued the repair work and again when the acceleration was beginning, holed out to deep mid wicket and again it was left to Silva to shoulder the burden. Another plus of this tour was the contribution made by Dilshan and Arnold. Sri Lanka batted first in all four games. Thrice being put in and once electing to do so. On every occasion the quicker bowlers dominated the opening hour. Sanath Jayasuriya in the first and Kumar Sangakkara in the second weathered the onslaught, but that was it. This tested Dilshan and Arnold. To a great extent they proved their worth, using every bit of experience.

Silva did not loose his composure. He played pace and spin with equal ease. In fact he was one batsman who had no difficulty in negotiating Harbajan Singh. This game, he gave away 48 runs in 9 overs and went without a wicket and was not as good as in the previous games.

As the end overs ticked by the diminutive right hander improvised with clever use of the feet. He did not attempt too many big hits but played the ball his way, playing well times cricket shots and well placed nudges using deft touch.

He reached his maiden one day ton and continued to the end. A final score of one hundred and seven, undefeated, out of a team total of 259, was the result. The pitch got easier to bat on as the innings progressed. Silva realizing that did not throw his wicket away and together with the lower middle order established a defendable total.

Accurate, tight bowling was required. For Sri Lanka that was not to be. There was no Chaminda Vaas or Muttiah Muralitharan to stop the hemorrhage of runs. Well, that is another story! Let’s remember Chamara Silva and his brilliant inning.