It was August 29th in 2001, 17 years ago when Sri Lanka hosted India for the 3rd and final Test of the series at the Sinhalese Sports Club grounds. Leading into this Test series, Sri Lanka had won the tri-series featuring India and New Zealand. India, who stayed back in the Island nation to play the three match Test series, were led by Sourav Ganguly and featured Rahul Dravid, Harbhajan Singh and India’s newly found left arm seam bowler at that time Zaheer Khan in their team.
The Test series was one to savor for all Sri Lankans. The traditional Galle Test was won by Sri Lanka by 10 wickets before both teams traveled to Sri Lanka’s hill capital for the 2nd Test. India was desperate and wanted to make sure Sri Lanka had not won the series before the final test. Ganguly led the fightback as India won by 7 wickets.
The final Test was as exciting as it could be, with both teams evenly poised to grab the Coco Cola Cup. At just 24 years of age, hailing from Ananda College, Thilan Thushara Samaraweera made his debut in this decisive game. Batting fourth at the SSC and with Muttiah Muralidaran in the opposition, it was always going to be a tough task for the Indian batsmen. India knew the threat Murali possessed, just two years ago he had ripped through the English defense at The Oval with match figures of 16 for 220.
Sourav Ganguly made the decision to bat first, the Indian openers Shiv Sunder Das and Sadagoppan Ramesh were off to a steady start, adding 97 runs for the first wicket. Sri Lanka went wicket-less in the first session and had to re-group and come up with a more strategic approach for the second session. Jayasuriya had no option but to go to his strike bowler Muttiah Muralidaran, who broke through the defense of Shiv Sunder Das in the 4thover after lunch.
The post lunch session only got better for Sri Lanka as Murali picked up 3 wickets including the pivotal wicket of Ganguly as India slipped to 155 for 4 at Tea. India was at 200 for the loss of 6 wickets at the end of the day’s proceedings.
Day two looked to be a very interesting day for cricket as Sri Lanka had fought their way back into the Test and looked to restrict India to a minimal score. India was bowled out within the first one and half hours of the morning session. Sri Lanka knew that they had got themselves into a very competitive position in the match and had to score big to win the Test.
Sri Lanka’s top four were prolific with the bat. The Indian bowlers had to toil for wickets, with Atapattu and Jayawardena making maximum use of the SSC conditions and scoring tons. The Lankans were in a commanding position at 416-6 when Mahela Jayawardena was dismissed for a stylish 139. One could wonder how deep the Lankan batting line up was back in the day. By now Sri Lanka had a lead of 182, as debutant Samarweera walked into the middle. Most debutants always look to survive their first ball in Test Cricket, but that was not the case for Samaraweera, oozing with confidence on his home turf he jabbed the ball into a gap and picked up 2 runs; as the Lankans went into lunch on day three at 430 for 6.
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Samaraweera and Hashan Tillekeratne pushed the lead further as Tillekeratne brought up another century. Samaraweera took his time and went on score his maiden Test fifty moments before Tea as the pair put on a 100-run partnership.
After Tea Samaraweera looked to take on the bowlers as Sri Lanka crossed the six hundred run mark. Moments later Samaraweera on 99 smashed Venkatesh Prasad to the boundary as the entire dressing room got on their feet to applaud the debutant on an impressive performance. A 194-run partnership by Tillekeratne and Samaraweera put Sri Lanka in a commanding position. Skipper Jayasuriya called for a declaration, and India was on 28 no loss as umpires Asoka De Silva and David Orchard called the end of the day’s play.
India was trailing by 376 runs. It was the weekend and the crowd in Colombo anticipated a Test series victory which the Sri Lankans had been waiting for 16 years. Day four kick started with another brilliant batting performance with an array of shots by the Indian batsmen, posting a 107 run partnership for the opening stand. Muralidaran picked up Shiv Shanker Das for the second time in the game as Sri Lanka had something to cheer about at Lunch.
The session became even more exasperating for the Sri Lankans as they picked up only one more wicket with Dravid and Ganguly at the crease. India had learned a bitter lesson being on the field for 171 overs, it was all a mind game at this point. The teams went into Tea with India on 169 for 2. Just as India were looking good with a wonderful batting display an unwanted mixed up between Ganguly and Dravid cost the wicket of Rahul Dravid, run out by Marvan Atapattu.
Sri Lankan knew that if they got the wicket of Sourav Ganguly the task would be much easier and the Lankans would be on their way to a series victory. Jayasuriya turned to his debutant part timer Samaraweera, and to the surprise of everyone, Samaraweera dismissed the Indian Captain Sourav Ganguly. With that wicket Sri Lanka got closer to winning the Test, India ended the day at 217 for 6.
The Test could not get any better for Samaraweera, a hundred on debut and picking up the price scalp of Ganguly.
It took Sri Lanka just 15 overs to wrap up the innings as the last 4 wickets fell in quick succession. Finally, a 16-year series victory drought against India had come to an end. Samaraweera had just been part of history on his debut for Sri Lanka. Muttiah Muralidaran was named the Man of the Match for his 11 wickets in the match and Man of the Series for picking up 23 wickets in the 3 Test matches.
Samaraweera went on to become one of the Nation’s best Test batsmen making 5,462 runs at an average of 48.76.
Image courtesy – ESPNcricinfo, Getty Images
