Test cricket at its best
Yesterday saw the end of what was the best test I’ve seen Sri Lanka involved in. Despite my complaints about The Oval in a previous post, the curator prepared a top notch test wicket having everything bar lateral movement, and even the crowd showed up! I couldn’t watch most of the game bc I was bumming around in unawatuna, but managed to catch the important parts, the 351 run chase in particular. Sri Lanka historically chases quite poorly at test level, and I didn’t really rate our chances chasing on Monday though I had some inner hope that we’d pull it off. When Boje got Sanath with a wicked wicked ball that spat off a length I didn’t expect our boys to survive a wicket misbehaving like that. But they batted exceedingly well from the word go, Sanath and Sanga followed by Mahela kept up the momentum with some very positive batting that never really let the Saffer bowlers dominate the proceedings as they should have done given the situation. That said, the wicket did play very well, there was spin and bounce but no lack of bounce which is the usual killer. But what stood out was the Sri Lankan approach. As Mahela said in a postmatch interview, had the guys tried to score at 2.5 to the over for 5 sessions we’d have been back in the hotel on day 4, with just a share of the series. Sanga’s assault on Steyn and Sanath’s assault on Polly effectively rendered those two ineffective for the rest of the innings, much like what happened to Saj Mahmood, Kabir Ali and that curly haired chap in the ODI’s against England.
Mahela was quite brilliant in the second innings, batting under pressure, holding the middle order together, talking to his parters all the time and really leading from the front. The way he kept cover driving Boje inside out for six throughout the series is just another manifestation of his massive talent, but what’s changed is his mental approach to the game, he’s now taking responsibility and applying himself better, allowing all that talent to add up to runs on the board. After Sanath and Sanga aggressively set up the innings the middle order let us down a bit with failures from Dilshan and Kapu. Dilshan’s test form is a bit of a worry, he too has undoubted talent, but needs to sort out the mental side of his game. The two Jayawardena’s then consolidated with an excellent stand that stretched into the final day with SL needing 90 with 5 in hand. At that time I’d have put money on us winning, but all the time there was a nagging worry that one wicket, specially Mahela, could be the breach that would let in the flood.
Prasanna fell early the next morning as Hall reverse swung the ball wholesale. I think Prince missed a trick by taking the new ball at that point. There’s nothing more difficult for tailenders to face than reverse swinging yorkers, and that was what Hall was dishing out. With Boje keeping it tight at the other end, it could have been very bad news for SL. Luckily Prince took the new ball and a lackluster Polly was thoroughly ineffective though Steyn created the odd flutter with some away swing. That allowed SL to claw their way back on top with Farveez and Mahela really digging in. Farveez is another interesting selection question. The guy is clearly very skilled, his batting has been proven to an extent with his performance at Lords earlier this year and his batting in this test. His bowling has fallen away a bit of late but I’m convinced that can be worked on bc he used to be really really good as soon as he started out. The boys went into lunch with SL well in the ascendency, requiring 19 to win with 4 in hand and two well set batsman at the wicket.
It’s here that South Africa deserves thorough respect. Without Ntini, without Polly at his best, they came back fighting. They say that Saffer teams never give up, and here they proved it. Bowling with strong leg side fields and Steyn bowling full and straight, they choked off the run supply. The first half hour saw just a handful of runs scored and Mahela tried to release the pressure by trying to loft Boje over cover for the nth time. For once he lost balance, nicked it, and Gibbs with his sleeves rolled up took a sharp one at slip. But all was ok, Vaasy was next in and he’s been more reliable than the top order in recent months. The Saffers continued to choke and Boje started to produce more alarming deliveries. With 4 to win Vaasy snicked one off Hall between 3rd slip and gully, it should have been 4 except for AB de Villiers’ left hand. Whenever players produce pieces of brilliance when it really really counts you know that there’s something special about them. I suspect de Villiers will go really far in this game, the guy seems to have that je ne sais quoi, it’s in his attitude, and he has skills to boot. Enter Murali, 4 to win. The first ball is outside off and he swats at it and hits thin air as the Saffer coach throws his arms up in the air in exasperation. I couldn’t decide whether Murali should have blocked or tried to finish it then and there. The second ball saw the same result, and the third made contact and squeezed past mid on for 2. 2 to win, last ball of the over. I kept telling Murali in my head to get behind the line and block and let Farveez take control at Boje’s end. Hall bowls one straight, Murali swings across the line and the stumps are all over the shop. I had a bottle of water in my hand which I smashed into the ground in dismay, Sanath screamed in exasperation in the balcony. We were pressing self destruct, it was Kandy 2000 all over again.
We had everything to lose, South Africa had everything to win. To draw a series at home against them would be like a loss to us, specially a South Africa missing Kallis and to a lesser extent Smith. Farveez had strike and was almost stumped by Boucher first ball but luckily clung on to his balance. I couldn’t bear it much more as my nails dug deep into the bed sheets. Boje ran in and threw it up, Maha whacked it down the ground and I jumped up in joy thinking it went all the way but it was just one. But we had tied the game and won the series, I relaxed a bit and watched as the game was set for its climax with Malinga on strike to Boje. SL needed one run, SA one wicket. Boje tossed it up again and Malinga on drove it to mid on and screamed off for a single as all of Sri Lanka erupted. We had successfully chased down the 6th highest ever 4th innings target, and that is one hell of an achievement for self destructers!
I love watching our team celebrate, at the moment there seems to be a great deal of unity in this team and everyone seems to share in the joys of the other. Watching Farveez punch the air and Malinga jumping all over the place gave me goosebumps. The presentation was also excellent, Mahela won man of the match bc without his effort we’d have never chased down 351 to win, and Murali got man of the series bc without his record 22 wickets we’d have never bowled SA out 4 times. But lots and lots of respect to SA, without their main strike bowler in the 4th innings they fought right down to the wire, not too many teams would have done that, and they almost pulled it off. I really felt for Prince as he wiped away a tear at the end of the game, but he really needn’t have been upset, his team played superbly, and he rightly said that he’s tremendously proud of them. This was test cricket at its very best. This is what the game is all about, a hard fight over 5 days, with players’ skills being tested to the limits both physically and mentally. This is why we don’t like cricket, we love it.
