It was a big week for Sri Lanka at the World Cup. After scraping through a stern Afghan test, the thrashing of Bangladesh had eased the minds of the passionate home support, secure in the knowledge that England were next. In Sri Lanka’s recent World Cup history, there is no more welcome an opponent than England. And on Sunday, England capitulated meekly at the Cake Tin.
As one Facebook punter said: “It seems like Sri Lanka’s sole purpose is to knock England out of World Cups.” Given the 1996 mauling at the hands of Sanath Jayasuriya and the masterclass from Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan in 2011, added to victory in 2007, he had more than a small point to make.
Some media outlets were quick to point out, as they should, that the Bangladesh win was akin to shooting fish in a barrel. The Tigers didn’t quite turn up. All this didn’t seem to matter to the Sri Lankan team in Wellington though, who continued exactly where they’d left off. While this meant they went on with the tremendous batting, some woeful fielding and dodgy bowling also continued.
Wellington, and the trip across the ditch, meant that Lankan fans had to wake at a dreaded 3.30am on a Sunday to watch the first ball of the game. What greeted them, and the more conservative 6am viewers, was news that England were rolling steadily along thanks to four dropped catches from the Sri Lankans. Against Bangladesh, Sangakkara and Dilshan’s dominance with the bat had masked the abysmal fielding during the chase. However, there was a growing sense of foreboding as the sun moved higher and higher, that these drops could cost us.
And they did. With Suranga Lakmal taken out of the attack for bowling a second beamer and Jos Buttler’s scorching drive splitting open Rangana Herath’s spinning finger, England’s total of 309 looked daunting. Could this Sri Lankan team be expected to get 300-plus twice in a row, and now in a chase?
Opinion on social media seemed divided at half time. Most gung ho fans showed some bravado. The more circumspect ones were not so sure. Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal hadn’t done much all tournament, and it appeared that the entire unit would have to contribute.
As it turned out, nobody anticipated how uninspired England would be with the ball. Their tall foursome was expected to intimidate Sri Lanka into submission. However, the short balls were met with little trouble on a good pitch. Moeen Ali was hilariously England’s most dangerous bowler, and he accounted for Dilshan.
Sangakkara’s knock – this time in a chase, his Achilles’ heel so far – was more inspired than the one from a few days before at the MCG. He put England to the sword and made easy meat of a required rate of 7.5 an over, much to the disbelief of even his most ardent fans. The morning games have made it a little difficult for Sri Lankans to ‘get together’, as they say, to watch these games. Even on the weekend, it is unheard of to troop to someone else’s house at the crack of dawn. That sort of dedication will be saved for later. Sri Lankan fans in Australia and New Zealand have been making a trip of it though, and travelling around to both the G and the Cake Tin.
Dilhara Fernando, who happened to be a stand-by to the original 30-man squad was in Los Angeles, watching the game with America’s two biggest Sri Lankan fans, Andrew and Melissa Heger, pictures of their chicken curry on the internet for all to see just how far Sri Lankan cricketing culture has spread.
In the end, the game was almost boring. Much of the reaction was limited to shaking of heads. Is this the same team from a fortnight ago, people would ask each other. With two back to back thumpings, Sri Lankans have started to believe again. The lack of a dominant batsman like AB, Virat or Gayle had not gone unnoticed. But the second coming of Sangakkara has banished those demons. Colombo has gone back to work and will leave preparing for Australia for a little later in the week. Rangana Herath will be missed. But Sydney will be looked forward to. Everyone’s going to have an early Saturday night for this one.
