Taming of the shrew – When the mighty Aussies felt the Sri Lankan overhaul

It is not an everyday story that you see a 38-year young man spin his web around a tough opposition and claim a Test match hat-trick. Neither do you often see a young man emerge out of nowhere amidst severe crisis to bail out his team from hot waters to take them to a match winning position. Seeing a 10-Test-old player scalp 11 wickets in a match against a top notch batting line up and then backing it up with a gritty fifty under tricky conditions is a rarity too.

When you combine efforts like these, you get the perfect anecdote of Sri Lanka’s herculean effort to beat the top ranked Test team in the world, Australia, in the first two Tests of the on-going 3-match Test series. The Sri Lankans have been consummate in their approach and, at the same time, never in their 3 week stay in the island nation thus far, the Australians have felt comfortable on the ground.

It was more of an anti-climax when Kusal Mendis inflicted a run out from short leg to dismiss Peter Nevill and seize the series for Sri Lanka in the 2nd Test. Everyone expected either Rangana Herath or Dilruwan Perera to bowl out the last wicket. No matter how the wickets came, as long as they kept coming – the adage had already been modified during the 2nd Test. It was all joyous scenes for the Sri Lankan players and the local crowd that had long been wanting for a series win like this. When the moment arrived, it was against arguably the best touring team in world cricket. The victory margin was no less either, 229 runs – an inch better than in the previous Test.

Coming into the series, both sides had contrasting fortunes. Australia had a resounding win in the limited overs tri-series in West Indies and their batsmen, David Warner and Steve Smith in particular, looked to be in magnanimous touch. Talking about the hosts, Sri Lanka had a horrendous run during their tour to England as they failed to register a single win across the three formats in the tour – a tie in the ODI being their best effort.

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Despite knowing the multifarious ramifications that could perspire against the visiting Aussies, the Sri Lankan selectors backed the almost same young side to take the field. Australia, too, were keen on improving their record in the subcontinent. Australia had won just once in their last 15 Tests in the subcontinent. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, had the history of beating the Aussies in Tests in just one match. In all fairness, the series promised scripting history.

In the first Test at Pallekele, the Australian bowlers were all over the Sri Lankan batsmen in the first innings. When Sri Lanka bundled out for a paltry 117 inside 35 overs, speculations were rife that the team’s fortunes haven’t changed one bit since the England tour. It went from bad to worse for the hosts, as Australian batsmen showed more patience to adapt to the conditions and pick a handy 86 run lead. Adam Voges, Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh crossed the 30 run mark – a feat no Sri Lankan batsmen had crossed earlier in the match.

However, Australia’s weakness against the spin was evident as Rangana Herath and L Sandakan bagged 4 wickets each to restrict Australia to 203. It was a nightmare start for Sri Lanka in the second innings too, as they lost 2 wickets in the first 3 overs of their innings. In walked Kusal Mendis, who perhaps played the best knock of his career. Innings like those do not come everyday. You need to put in ample amount of concentration and show patience of the first degree to come out with specials like those. While all other batsmen struggled at the crease, Mendis was class apart.

A brilliant 176 was on the cards for him and a double ton was certainly there for taking. Handy lower order contributions saw Sri Lanka post a target of 268 for the visitors. It was all about the veteran Herath show from thereon. On a track where the Australian spinners looked mediocre, claiming just 8 wickets across both innings, the Sri Lankan spinners looked vicious – accounting for 18 wickets in the match. Australia’s middle order blockathon was not enough as Sri Lanka eked out a 106 run win in the Test, their second ever against Australia. Herath, the young man, was the wrecker-in-chief with 5 wickets to his name.

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Teams moved to Galle and the story turned out to be no different. Australia’s batting woes against the spin continued. Sri Lanka backed Dilruwan Perera in the playing eleven despite an average show in the first match. The move by Angelo Mathews worked well, really well. Kusal Mendis yet again showed how to bat on dubious tracks like those and came up with 86, yet again a century was there for the taking.

Crucial contributions from Kusal Perera (49) and Angelo Mathews (54) saw Sri Lanka post 281. Mitchell Starc bagged his fifth 5-wicket haul and perhaps gave an indication that the track might just not be in favour of the spinners this time around. Aussie spinners, Nathan Lyon and Jon Holland, leaked runs at an economy of over 4 and bagged just a cumulative 3 wickets. The tables turned and apparently the track too, the Aussies would believe. Being bundled out for 106 rarely wins you matches, unless you are Sri Lanka playing in your own backyard.

Herath and Dilruwan Perera bagged 4 wickets each to give Sri Lanka a handy lead of 175 runs. The message was there for the taking for the Australian twirlers – bowl in the right areas, the more air you give the more turn you extract. However, it was the middle order that saved the boat for the hosts yet again. Despite the rare failure of Mendis, other batsmen chipped in with good contributions. Dilruwan Perera’s quick 64 off 89 pushed Australia away from sniffing any chance of a win.

Australian spinners proved to be costly and ineffective yet again. Jon Holland gave 69 runs in the 10 overs he bowled – an economy of 6.9. Lyon, too, couldn’t get any help from the track. Starc was the silver lining for the visitors amidst dark clouds again as he bagged 6/50. Is he the only bright spot for the visitors in the tour so far? Undoubtedly yes.

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413 to get, over 2 and a half days to go, Herath with the new ball – you don’t give yourself any chance of batting out, do you? Australia had 6 overs to bat on the day 2 as Herath started the proceedings for Sri Lanka. As many as 3 wickets fell inside the first 4 overs to keep Australia wanting on 10/3. It was only a matter of time on day 3 that the hosts wrapped up a memorable series win.

Dilruwan Perera picked up wickets at will to dismantle the Australian lineup and bundle them out for just 183, giving Sri Lanka a thrusty win by 229 runs. Perera bagged 6/70 and was the standout performer for sure. With the win, Sri Lanka registered an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the series.

So what exactly went wrong for Australia? Some might say they got a taste of their own medicine. Alien tracks can bring the king down to his knees. One might complain that the Test lasted just 3 days but that is how Test is played in the subcontinent unless you show gritty resistance.  Sri Lanka did not have the best of bowling lineups and had only one experienced campaigner in Herath. On the other hand, Australia had the likes of Starc and Lyon in their armoury.

Despite this fact, Sri Lanka outplayed Australia in all departments. The track didn’t change and it would only be unfair to say that the tracks won the games for the hosts. Australian batting looked below standards. Their in-form batter David Warner scored 0 and 1 in the first Test. His opening partner Joe Burns could muster only 34 runs across 4 innings. These are just number to say, but the story has not been different for any Australian batsmen.

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On the other hand, the young Sri Lankan side showed resistance. Not many are talking about Dhananjaya de Silva. The number 7 batsmen scored 24, 36, 37, 34 in the four innings and if you notice closely, he has only played proper text book cricketing shots thus far and hasn’t played a shot wrong. Everyone in the lineup has chipped in when needed, something that has been missing for the visitors. If Australia wish to turn the fortunes in the final Test and get to the winning board, they need someone to step up to the occasion and take charge.

While the Sri Lankan spinners have been immaculate with their line and lengths, the Aussie spinners have been scatterplots. They need to adapt to the conditions and get their lengths right if they want to give themselves any chance of tasting success on subcontinental tracks. Whether they get their act together or not, time will tell. For now, Sri Lanka deserves their moment of joy and must take pride in the way they have outplayed the number one side. Well played, Sri Lanka.

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