Why’s no one talking about Sri Lanka and the fact that their recent historic, record-making Test win came at the behest of a brilliant Test hundred by captain Dimuth Karunaratne?
Could it be that at a time when giants of the game are playing all at the same time- England playing Australia and India involved in the Caribbean- not an awful lot is reserved for sides like Sri Lanka?
Cricket’s a lot more than the ongoing Ashes Tests
Kohli just recently raised his bat and on two separate but brilliant occasions down at Trinidad. In another part of the world, Steven Smith flayed the English attack, peppering their pace and line and length with unmatched focus.
But let’s also be fair and not undermine that in another part of the world, though not serenaded by blaring media lights, a gritty left-handed Sri Lankan guided his team to a sensational Test win.
At the receiving end of the jolt was no ordinary side. It was the finalist of the 2019 World Cup. Perhaps a good time to ask now that Galle has upheld the fluttering Sri Lankan flag that did New Zealand see their defeat coming?
Karunaratne’s magic
Never that easy to mark a conquest over a side that boasts of someone like Kane Williamson, right? Yet, what we are hearing and with an overwhelmingness is Jofra Archer’s bouncer that rattled Steve Smith, among the best in the business.
There’s not substantial reportage on Karunratne’s powerful cover drive and mid-wickets hoicks on Boult and Southee. In the not-so-distant-past, in fact, barely a few hours ago, a strong-willed and newly-made captain powered his team to a historic 6-wicket win at a ground where his famous compatriots like Sanga and Mahela have often courted headlines.
A triumphant 122 would come off 243 balls. It would feature 6 boundaries and a towering six.
As an opener, Dimuth Karunaratne would bat all the way until the 76th over the inning. He would wait patiently, often stand and deliver, quintessentially bringing that classic tennis-like backhand jab to the covers and point region to raise his ninth hundred.
In so doing, he would contribute handsomely toward correcting some wrongs against New Zealand. For starters, he would go onto prove that a team comprising of genuine match-winners- Williamson, Boult, Southee, Latham- would find it hard to overwhelm a less jazzy, seemingly non-glamorous Sri Lankan team.
The greatest reward of them all would come at the behest of the record keepers.
Never before Sri Lanka’s winning chase of 268 at Galle- all would be informed- had any team completed a successful three-figure run chase at the old Lankan fortress.
Quite an achievement that, right?
But when one takes into consideration that Karunaratne took over the captaincy only in the recent past, you are compelled to join both hands in admiration and are moreover, pushed to think of cricket from a larger canvass, not restricted to the glory of a Smith and Kohli.
Like Virat, Dimuth Karunaratne too, has got a responsibility on his shoulders: to marshal his troops, to lead them by an example. And for the moment, the Galle effort warrants a question: isn’t his feat just as exceptional as Kohli’s recent hundreds against the Windies?