When the burly Sri Lankan walked into the middle amidst deafening roars from the 40,000 strong, many had expected that it was only a matter of time before the world champions conceded defeat to the other islanders from the Tasman Sea. But man proposes 'Arjuna' disposes - at least that was the case yesterday.
With three of the world's top class onedayers back in the dressing room for a shameful 5 on the board, even the bravest of the supporters must have been seeking only a miracle to happen for the safe passage of the Sinhalese boat. In the heat and humidity that touched a sultry height inside the stadium Arjuna behaved like a cool cucumber as if to justify the famous gas company slogan: we heat your boiler to keep you cool. If anyone wondered whether he had any nerve at all, none can blame him because Arjuna never showed he had any. Not only for the control over himself one has to admire his capacity to tame even the most fidgety of his teammates. With Kalu he put on 127 that assured them a place in the semifinals against South Africa. This has never been a happy hunting ground for the master blaster Jayasuriya. Doull will be counting the first-ball dismissal of Sanath as probably his best achievement in one-day cricket so far; it should very well prove to be the best for him.
This ground is not strange to many of the Lankans. In fact the first Sri Lankan team played here in 1964 against Pakistan in an unofficial 'Test'. I can not remember the result but I remember Anura Tennekoon, Roy Dias and Co were in team. They came back again in 1978 and played a number of matches at Dhaka and other towns. Some of them have played regular club cricket here and have many friends in this country.
Marvan Atapattu and the little 'dynamo' Arvinda de Silva fell to brilliant bowling and fielding. For quite some time after that it was only natural to expect that New Zealand will coverup their short comings of the afternoon.
With a quartet of spinners at his command that represented all forms of the art of slow bowling the Kiwis were totally confused about their method of tackling the spinners. The confusion was further confounded by a turning wicket - the third one to be used yesterday. The Kiwis were clearly out of sorts in the heat as Arjuna played a masterly stroke by inviting them to bat. Only Parore made best use of reprieve as he sweated through a half century that put some sanity in their innings.
The wicket was not as friendly as the other two on which the first two matches were played. At the pavilion end the ball kept low which made strokeplay difficult and Fleming, Haris and Vettori were all victims of low bounce.
Ranatunga's fighting innings under such trying conditions should long be remembered and I think this was one of the best innings of his illustrious career. Afterall it takes many talents to make world champions.