The ODI series have kicked off! It is currently one all and three to go. And the first two games were simply fantastic. The type of cricket dished out was the type that people would turn up to watch and make TV audiences be glued to their sets! Can you ak for anything better than this? Four hundred plus in the first game and three hundred plus in the second game! In my opinion it should have been two nil in Sri Lanka’s favour with three to go rather than being one all!
It has been a batting performance beyond the wildest expectations
from a Sri Lankan point of view! It was simply magnificent. Let’s start with the first game. When you have four hundred plus to chase any batting side in the world would be under pressure and will naturally not be the favourites to win, even if you were playing a lesser known team than India.

But the way the Lankan Lions rose to the challenge was simply fantastic! The innings of Tilakaratne Dilshan was just top drawer stuff! It was breathtaking, sensational and some times even bordering tremendous risks! However you need that blend and approach if you are chasing down such a target and the foundation is what mattered most. In the first ODI besides Dilshan, Upul Tharanga back in the big league was impressive in his own quiet way whilst skipper Sangakkara too seemed to have reached a purple patch on this tour with his batting. His ninety plus was as impressive and important as the century of Dilshan and was able to match Dilshan stroke for stroke and some times even do better than that making Dilshan play second fiddle.

Mathews is fast developing as Sri Lanka’s Bevan.

Having said that how Sri Lanka lost from a position of strength is most inexplicable! It just confirmed that tag of this great sport, which says cricket is most unpredictable and the glorious uncertainties attached to it seem to appear at very interesting and strange times. Otherwise how would you possible describe Sri Lanka grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory? Other than the top three batsmen, the rest of the batting simply caved in under pressure.

Now this line up included Mahela Jayawardane and Sanath Jayasuriya and how two players of that quality could not guide Sri Lanka home on that eventful day was just unbelievable. Digressing further I also felt that Kandamby should have come in at no.4 giving him more time to settle before going for the charge and Jayasuriya would have been the ideal to have come in with just 3 overs to go.

What a shame that Sri Lanka missed the services of a dashing Kapugedara! He is one player who could play the big shot and clear the ropes and that would have been telling on the bowlers. And he could have been the foil the impressive Angelo Mathews who has now been given the extra responsibility of being the finisher for Sri Lanka was desperate to have. On the subject of Mathews his maturity has been so impressive and rapid. For two consecutive games Sri Lanka’s fortunes were dependent on his young shoulders! In the first instance he just missed out courtesy a super catch at mid wicket by Tendulkar. But on the second instance he never looked back until his job was competed which speaks of the fortunes in store for Sri Lanka cricket.

The second game altogether was a more disciplined approach from Sri Lanka. I thought the bowling of Welagedera and Randiv was brilliant. Both the national selectors and the tour selectors should be congratulated for playing Randiv who more than deserved his chance and for persisting with the left arm pace of Welagedera. Both decisions paid rich dividends. Besides these two bowlers the other most impressive factor for Sri Lanka was Ajantha Mendis! Whilst his figures may not reflect the quality of his bowling that day, I thought that he appeared to have rediscovered his old form. To start with he was bowling a bit quicker than what he had been doing in the recent past. If our readers recall correctly Mendis was a fastish bowler, who had suddenly lost his rhythm. But in the 2nd game he ran in quicker and bowled with greater control. The delivery that had Tendulkar stumped was floated slower and wider and the little master just fell for it. It was a pity that Sangakkara missed Dhoni off two consecutive balls in one over off Mendis. If Dhoni was dismissed then who knows what the final score would have been and what Mendis would have returned in the end? As Sangakkara said at the awards presentation was “had Dhoni been dismissed at that stage India could have been restricted to much less than what they finally achieved”

Then what about the batting of Sri Lanka? I wonder whether the word fantastic would fit the bill to describe it! Another century stand and a back to back hundreds for Tilakaratne Dilshan! His tenth for the year and he still has three more games! And at this rate who knows how many more?

Besides the individual brilliance of the Lankans there is a strong message that has been sent out by them after these two games, which is the most important aspect of it and that is their confidence is back and they have once again started to believe in themselves. Try to imagine how low the confidence levels would have been when the Test series was lost! And then to lose a One day game after getting so close! Losing can be a dangerous and a contagious disease which spreads very fast amongst a team when things are not going right. It creates or could create division and cracks can appear wide. What this win has done for the Sri Lankans is beyond the comprehension of many! It has given them a new belief that India after all is beatable in their own back yard. Whether this win will catapult Sri Lanka to a series win only time will tell though the ODI series promises to be one of the best series the two countries have ever played.

Roshan Abeysinghe is a leading cricket promoter and an international cricket commentator