Adelaide, South Australia, Tuesday
If the Australian umpires don't gag Muthiah Muralitharan, then the spectators will. When the off spinning sensation came on to bowl, he was booed and 'no balled' by the spectators numbering nearly 10,000.
The spectators shouted 'No ball' in unison. But umpire Peter Parker was unmoved and Muraliltharan continued and after being hit for two fours in the third and fourth balls had the wicket of Ryan Campbell in the final delivery when Ranatunga hung on to full blooded pull by the batsman. This was in his first over which was full of drama.
While Muralithanran was 'called' by the spectators here, his real test will come when the triangular series begin and it will be interesting to see who the other umpire who will 'call' him following Darrel Hair, and Ross Emerson.
The Australian spectators will do well to understand that it is only their umpires who think bad of Muralitharan's action. We hope the spectators will stop showing their ignorance at other venues.
This second game against Australia 'A' was only of academic interest. For the record Sri Lanka batting first made 227/7 in 50 and Australia 'A' made 203 with 11 balls to spare.
Aravinda de Silva and Muthiah Muralitharan showed that they have recovered well from their injuries and although not performing at peak, produced encouraging efforts. De Silva batted with no apparent discomfort and Muralitharan bowled with no pain or stiffness whatsoever.
De Silva who has not had a knock since his injury in Sharjah stroked the ball fluently and his footwork too was perfect and the way he made his runs showed that he is in for many more when the crunch time comes around. His trademark shots, the cut and the hook were all in evidence and in making 55 had 2 fours in 79 deliveries. Together with captain Ranatunga he put on 71 for the 4th wicket in 94 balls.
The Lankans who gave a very ordinary performance in Perth where they were bundled out for 89 to be thrased by 8 wickets, got their batting act together after Ranatunga had won the toss and decided to bat.
Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharne began with a bag slamming 62 runs off 69 deliveries. Jayasuriya who is still a bit suspect outside off stump, batted with confidence and looks to be setting down to playing his natural game. He made 46 while Kaluwitharne too showed good touch in making 28 with the shot of his innings being a glorious cover drive.
Of the other batsmen Ranatunga 38 and Tillekeratne 29 n.o. also played encouragingly. Mahanama who made 2 in Perth came a cropper once again, failing to score when he was caught behind trying to slice Blewett through the vacant slip area. Atapattu in making only 10, middled well.
Unlike the Perth pitch which had tremendous pace and bounce, the Adelaide wicket was a 50-50 one which was to the liking of the Sri Lankans. Mahanama who failed to score made amends when he clung on to a superb catch in the covers to get rid of the threatening Greg Blewett for 9. Blewett whom the Aussie selectors continue to ignore has made 1175 runs this season, which is fantastic.
When the Australian 'A' batted it was only Damien Martyn 59, Ryan Campbell 25 and Shane Lee who looked threatening.
The Sri Lankan bowlers all bowled line and length and Chandana had figures of 2 for 41 in 10, while Muralitharan also had 2, and Vaas 2.
It was somewhat of a consolation for the Sri Lankans who won by 24 runs after losing the first game by 8 wickets.
The Lankans now move on to Melbourne for their final practice game.