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Singer Cup stays in Sri Lanka

Roshan Paul

Sanath Jayasuriya couldn't have hoped for anything better. It was the quintessential Sri Lankan victory. Their batsmen put up a big score on the board. Their spinners didn't give anything away and the Singer Cup was secured comfortably by 30 runs. Quite deservedly so for they were by far the best side in the tournament.

For South Africa, Neil McKenzie replaced an injured Darryl Cullinan and Chaminda Vaas regained his place in lieu of Pramodya Wickremasinghe.

It was a hot day at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. At the toss itself, Sanath Jayasuriya was sweating. Things were soon to get much hotter. In these humid conditions with little help for the fast bowlers, the toss is often vital. Jayasuriya won it and chose to bat.

As he and Avishka Gunawardene launched a ferocious assault on the South Africans, there was a feeling in the air that it was just not going to be South Africa's day. With even Shaun Pollock overstepping and bowling wides and a mishit pull from Gunawardene somehow eluding three converging fielders, those feelings became stronger.

Gunawardene (49, 47b, 8x4) was especially savage. Until bowled by a quicker one from Paul Adams, he was master of all he surveyed. Especially of poor David Terbrugge. The young fast bowler who destroyed Pakistan with figures of 8-1-20-4 went for 38 runs in his first four overs and was not to bowl again in the match. Talk about crash landings!

Jayasuriya (68, 86b, 5x4, 1x6) may have been less spectacular but was no less effective. One magnificent pick-up shot over square leg of a Jacques Kallis slower ball stood out. However, the heat got to him as he went on and it was an unthinking piece of cricket, brought about by tiredness, that caused his demise as he failed to beat a Jonty Rhodes throw. By the time he departed with the score at 174 in the 32nd over, he had lost Atapattu and Jayawardene (who threatened much but threw it away again) and Sri Lanka were in danger of not capitalizing on that fabulous start.

Enter the two new left-handers. If Kumar Sangakkara (43, 49b, 2x4, 1x6) was elegantly effective, then Russell Arnold (51, 53b, 1x4, 2x6) was all placement. The heat began to tell on the South Africans as they misfielded often, giving away several free runs as the duo ran them ragged. It was an 80-run partnership of 83 balls that not only put the Sri Lankan nose way ahead but was also remarkable for the quality of batsmanship.

The Lankans ended with 294/7 and Jayasuriya must have been a very contented man for he had said at the toss that he would have been pleased with anything above 230. From the South African viewpoint, it was a very disappointing performance in the field. Bar a brilliant effort from Paul Adams (1/29 in 10 overs), the bowling was poor and the fielding much below the usual high standard.

Gary Kirsten (76, 94b, 6x4) and Andrew Hall (35, 52b, 1x4) got the Springboks off to a very good start. Against the pace of Vaas and Zoysa, Kirsten in particular was very aggressive. Once the spinners came on, however, the run rate slowed and it was just a matter of time before one of them would strike. This happened with the score at 91.

Muttiah Muralitharan is what former England coach, David Lloyd would call "Sri Lanka's banker bowler", for you can always bank on him. The sprightly Lankan deceived Hall in the air and bowled him through the gate as the opening batsman looked to drive against the spin. It was a classic off-spinner's dismissal.

With the spinners tightening their noose around the South African neck, the in-form Kallis was done in by some smart work from Muralitharan - the fielder. Although both Neil McKenzie and Mark Boucher could argue the validity of the decisions that went against them, there can be no doubt that first Nicky Boje and then Gary Kirsten were completely deceived by the guile and genius of Muralitharan. Both batsmen were drawn forward by the flight, deceived by the turn and stumped quite comfortably. The off-spinner was absolutely superb today and while the South Africans could keep him out while playing normally, they succumbed the moment they tried to attack him.

At 175/6 with an asking rate of over 8.5, the noise made by the Sri Lankan supporters suggested that they believed their team had one hand on the trophy. But a 54 run partnership of only 49 balls between Jonty Rhodes (43, 43b, 3x4) and Lance Klusener (39, 43b, 1x4, 1x6) quieted them. While Klusener was at his clubbing best, Rhodes played a gem of an innings. The match might have become a lot closer had Rhodes not been given out lbw while trying to reverse-sweep Dharmasena. Of the three dubious decisions, this was clearly the worst, as the ball was going to miss the leg stump by quite a large margin. This was also the most crucial of the three decisions that went against the Springboks.

The spinners bowled brilliantly in the death and once Klusener too fell to Muralitharan in exactly the same way as Kirsten and Boje, the match was as good as over. Shaun Pollock hit out lustily at the end but South Africa had already lost by then.

Muralitharan, with 5/44 in his ten overs and that delightfully infectious smile, was easily the Man of the Match. However, the Sri Lankans also fielded brilliantly and must have easily saved around 20 runs with their outcricket. It's not often that a team outperforms South Africa in the field but that was certainly the case this time.

South Africa went down fighting but once the Lankans had that score on the board, it was always going to be a near impossible task.

There was to be one final bit of drama. After Tony Greig and Ranjit Fernando spoke at length on which of the several Sri Lankan contenders would be their Man of the Series, Match Referee John Reid awarded the keys of the Kia Shuma to Jacques Kallis for having taken 7 wickets and scoring 211 runs in the series.

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