Further glories for Sri Lanka, miseries for Australia

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Starting from the English summer, the Australian cricket continues to sink further and the much-dreaded string of failure has extended at home. More alarmingly the spate of defeats continues unabated and there’s no respite even at their all-time favourites venues like the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).

The two historic grounds, having witnessed the home team conquer the most fancied of opponents over the years, were the venue of the debacle of the Aussies lately. They were beaten narrowly by Sri Lanka in the first One-day International at the MCG while the margin of defeat was a bit more concerning in the following ODI at the SCG where the series was settled with a game remaining.

The present generation in Australia is not accustomed to watching their cricket get humiliated for so long. They have grown up in the days when Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting inflicted wounds on one opposition after other, with the possible exception of India, in an era when no team dared taking them on.

Ponting is very much around even today but he has neither the form nor the fitness to worry the opponents. His successor Michael Clarke hasn’t had the best of starts to his captaincy career and the think-tank in Australia has every reason to get concerned and chalk out different plans to arrest the decline.

It had all started with a poor series against Pakistan in England about six months ago. Having dominated a much stronger Pakistan outfit at home when they won all nine international games against them, they got derailed against all odds while facing a depleted side.

Whether the Australians were guilty of under-estimating Pakistan completely or they went into the games casually there was certainly an element of shock in their below-par performance in England.

After losing the plot in both the Twenty20 Internationals, in which they failed to chase modest targets despite having being crowned as the world champions in the fastest version of the game only a few months back, they let down their supporters by their horrible performance in both the Test matches that followed.

In a country where the seam bowlers do the business in the early part of the summer, the Australians had to look to their part-time bowlers for bowling Pakistan out. They escaped defeat in the first Test but were humiliated in the second Test to have the series leveled that they were expected to win comfortably.

What has followed since then has obviously been less surprising. Their struggling side was taken care of by the formidable Indians at home and now another powerful side, Sri Lanka, has availed the opportunity of settling scores with them.

Unfortunately from the Sri Lankan point of view it’s just a mini-tour. The form they are in they would have desired staying much longer in Australia to improve their record in this particular country.

Kumar Sangakkara’s men, high on confidence, have wrapped up the ODI series after having pocketed the one-off T20I. Now they should be looking forward to return from Australia undefeated by winning the third and final ODI, It will come as no surprise if they do it.

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Mathews, Malinga extend Australia’s losing streak

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

It was not very long ago when the Australians were busy in thrashing one opponent after another in nearly every format of the game. They were slow starters to some extent in the latest version, Twenty20 Internationals, but their overall dominance in international cricket was legendary.

Well now it’s the other way round for the Aussies. Their losing streak has been extending and there’s very little to suggest if it will stop. The manner in which they lost the first One-day International against Sri Lanka at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on November 3 their think-tank must have got worried and they need to do something to arrest the decline.

Australia appeared to be in total control when they had reduced the visitors to 107 for eight while defending a total of 239. Little idea they had that the game would be snatched from such a commanding position.

The world record ninth wicket stand between Angelo Matthews and Lasith Malinga thrilled the huge number of Sri Lankan supporters at the MCG but it shattered the Aussies, already running short of confidence due to string of defeats.

Mathews and Malinga eclipsed the long standing record of Kapil Dev and Syed Kirmani who had rescued India from a similarly precarious position in the game against Zimbabwe during the 1983 World Cup.

Comparing the two huge ninth wicket stands, the one between Mathews and Malinga was more unlikely. While both Kapil Dev and Kirmani were recognized batsmen they also were pitted against an inexperienced team which was yet to be allotted the full membership of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

No disrespect meant to the accomplishment of Kapil Dev and Kirmani but they had put together what indeed had turned out to be the match winning partnership while batting first.

The situation was comparatively more tense when Malinga, a fast bowler not possessing batting credentials, walked in to join Mathews, a promising all-rounder but nowhere near to the class of the great Kapil Dev yet

It was incredible how Mathews and Malinga turned it around against the Aussies at the MCG, the venue of many of their historic conquests. The Sri Lankans have had very poor record in Australia before the start of the current tour and one thought they had run out of steam once more when the two got together.

Their 132-run partnership was not broken until the scores had been tied and Australia’s chances of winning the game had been blown away. Malinga, having blasted his maiden ODI half-century, was short of the crease when attempting what would have been the winning run.

It was Sri Lanka’s good luck that a man as vastly experienced as Muttiah Muralitharan, no rabbit with the bat, walked in at number 11 and he completed the job in style with the assured Mathews at the other end.

The Sri Lankan victory overshadowed the impressive international debut of left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty who claimed four wickets to bring Australia back in the game after Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene had threatened to make it a one-sided contest.

Australia’s innings was rocked by Thisara Perera whose five-wicket haul limited the hosts to 239 despite the recovery led by the ever-dependable Michael Hussey who remained undefeated with 71 containing just one boundary and as many as 50 singles.

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Sri Lanka off to a winning start in Australia

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The Sri Lankans haven’t had particularly pleasing memories of their past tours of Australia. They have been at the receiving end more often than not and it was an odd country where they had not been able to come good despite so much promise.

Things appear different now with the once impregnable Australians having become vulnerable now and the Sri Lankans having made advancements in world cricket with the discovery of a few most talented youngsters.

It has become evident in the very first encounter between the two sides that it’s a different ball game now. Watching the Sri Lankans dominate the hosts at the WACA in Perth on October 31 was an unusual sight but not totally unexpected.

Sri Lanka looked the more formidable of the two combatants but more importantly they were able to translate their supremacy into a massive win in the one-off Twenty20 International.

Sri Lanka were in total control of the proceedings from the outset and they didn’t allow the Aussies to stage a forceful comeback as they had earlier this year in their clash in the Caribbean during the ICC World T20.

The only period when the Australians threatened to pull it back was when Brad Haddin and Steve Smith were putting together a big partnership but their dismissal in one Suraj Randiv over prevented an onslaught in the death overs.

The Sri Lankan bowling remained hostile yet accurate. Speedster Lasith Malinga was guilty of spraying a few wides down the leg side but that hardly mattered in the final count. The fast bowling was terrific and the spin duo of Randiv and that man Mutiah Muralitharan was spot on.

Australia, having slumped to 43 for five in the 11th over, did give themselves a sniff by recovering to 133 for eight in the allotted 20 overs. Getting 90 runs off the last 10 overs was quite an accomplishment but the damage had been done in the first half of their innings.

The Sri Lankan fielding was top class and it played a key role in the limited the hosts. The running catch Dilhara Fernando took to get rid of the threatening Michael Clarke represented the improved skills of the visitors. It was a spectacular one-handed catch that stunned the spectators.

With the bowlers and the fielders having done the job, the task was made easier for their batsmen and they latched on the opportunity. The target of 134 was unlikely to tease the visitors and they did get it very comfortably indeed.

Such a marvelous start should inspire the Sri Lankans in the upcoming ODI series and they should have greater confidence now after having overpowered the hosts so decisively in the T20 game. I think Sri Lanka have their best chance to beat Australia in Australia.

The Sri Lankans, the form in which they are in, must be regretting having just three ODIs besides the one T20 during the tour. The Australians need to lift their game to be in the better frame of mind for upcoming Ashes battle.

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