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A wounded tiger is doubly dangerous, it is said.
And Sanath Jayasuriya amply demonstrated that at
Sydney by blasting a superlative century against
Australians. The veteran of Sri Lankan cricket
definitely had a thing or two to prove after his
omission for the Test series against India on
grounds of form and fitness concerns. His
blistering 114 off 96 balls showed that though he
may be well past his best, the Sri Lankan still has
something to offer. True, in the absence of
McGrath, Lee seemed the only threatening bowler but
that cannot take anything away from the
magnificence of Jayasuriya's strokeplay. It was
like a mini-rebirth of the man who stunned world
cricket with his power-hitting in the '96 World
Cup.
After a long time, one could see Sanath batting
with the panache of old. There were his trademark
wristy cuts and pulls, and not for a moment did the
explosive left-hander look in trouble. He hit ten
fours and four sixes in his ton, before a tired
shot brought down the curtains on his wonderful
effort. He got great support from the ever-maturing
Kumara Sangakkara. After losing Mubarak early,
Jayasuriya and the Lankan 'keeper shared a vital
163-run partnership second wicket partnership.
While Jayasuriya was blasting the relatively
inexperienced Aussie bowlers all over, Sangakkara
ensured that the runs kept coming at a steady pace
at the other end. With yet another half-century,
Sangakkara is getting closer to establishing
himself as Lanka's most consistent performer. His
keeping has always been very good and if he can
convert more of his fifties into big scores, he can
be an even better asset for Sri Lankan cricket in
the days to come.
The same applies to the genuinely talented Mahela
Jayawardene as well. His capability with the bat
has been praised ever since he burst onto the
scene. But while he has played some rather
exceptional knocks in his career, there have been
lots of disappointments too. More often than not
with Mahela, it has been a case of him throwing his
wicket away with poor shot-selection rather than
the opposition claiming it. However, Sri Lanka had
no reason to complain at Sydney. Jayawardene played
a sublime knock of 56 off 48 balls and with some
help from skipper Atapattu, helped his team past
the 300-mark.
Australia carried on in their experimentation mode.
Along with McGrath, Phil Jaques- who made a
stunning international debut-was also seen cooling
off in the dressing room. And both the changes had
a major hand in the world champions letting the
game slip away. Do we need to say that Chaminda
Vaas struck early for the Lankans? Yes, yet again,
the left-handed paceman started off things for Sri
Lanka on a positive note, dismissing Martyn early.
It would sound rather awkward to say that Ruchira
Perera has been the find of the series of Sri Lanka
since he has been around for quite some time. But
with his performances in the last few games, he
definitely made his mark in international cricket.
Whether he maintain the momentum remains to be seen
though.
Thanks to Vaas and Perera, the Aussies were three
down in no time. Replacement keeper Brad Haddin
justified his promotion with a breezy 41 before
being bewildered by the magic of Murali. Symonds
and Clarke kept the fight alive for the home side,
but the target was too challenging even for the
best side in the world. And after a tragic mix-up
saw the end of Symonds, it was all but over,
although James Hopes (43) was hoping against hope
to pull off something extraordinary.
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