DOWN MEMORY LANE of AUSTRALIA in SRI LANKA 2004

Thinking Cricket with Ajith C. S. Perera

AUSTRALIA IN SRI LANKA - 2004

Down Memory Lane

Website that combines Cricket with Travel to Sri Lanka

PAGE UPDATED: 09th March 2004.

l What was it like when they first clashed here?

l How many times have they fought on home soil? How have Murali and Warne fared in the series? Answers to these and very many more interesting titbits in the Statistics Section.

l A Bitter Lesson from the past!

CLICK your choice.

THE FIRST MEETING not that Memorable!

In Australia's first ever tour of Sri Lanka in 1983, the teams played a one-off test at Kandy commencing 22^nd April. Duleep Mendis captained Sri Lanka and Greg Chappell Australia. Australia won the toss and elected to bat on a flat pitch. Australia piled on the runs and declared at 514 / 4 after 131 overs. Opener Keppler Wessels (141 in 250 min.) and the late David Hookes (143 not out in 201 min.) scored big hundreds and Graham Yallop 98 in 303 minutes. In fact Hookes' hundred came in just one session, between lunch and tea on day-two.

Sri Lanka needed 314 to avoid the follow on and never looked like achieving it when their first three wickets fell with just nine runs on the board. A 96 run partnership between skipper Mendis (74 in 151 min.) and top first innings scorer Arjuna Ranatunga (90 in 174 min. with 16 x 4’s) helped Sri Lanka reach a respectable score of 271 in 72.5 0vers. Off-spinner Bruce Yardley captured 5 / 88 in 25 0vers.

Forced to bat again Sri Lanka needed 243 to avoid an innings defeat. But once again they capitulated to spin to lose the Test on Day-4, by an innings and 38 runs. Test debutante Tom Hogan took 5 / 66 in 25.2 0vers. The only major contribution for Sri Lanka was opener Sidath Wettimuny's 96 in180 minutes with 13 x 4’s in their total of 205 made in 65.2 0vers.

SRI LANKA – AUSTRALIA TEST SERIES

VITAL STATISTICS

as at 07th March 2004

l TEST SERIES BREAKDOWN:

(a). Australia have hosted Sri Lanka for a total of 6 TESTS.

Australia had won 05, Sri Lanka 00 and Drawn 01.

(b). Sri Lanka have hosted Australia for a total of 7 TESTS.

Australia had won 02, Sri Lanka 01 and Drawn 04.

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Grand Total = 13 TESTS have been played between the two

Countries. Australia had won 07, Sri Lanka 01 and Drawn 05.

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· HIGHEST TOTAL MADE:

IN SRI LANKA:

Australia 514 / 4 dec. (1^st) at Asgiriya in Kandy in 1983 April.

Sri Lanka 592 / 8 dec (1^st) at the SSC in Colombo in 1992 August.

IN AUSTRALIA:

Australia 617 / 5 dec. (1^st) at WACA Perth in 1995 December.

Sri Lanka 418 / 10 (1^st) at Brisbane in 1989 December.

· LOWEST TOTAL MADE:

IN SRI LANKA:

Australia 140 / 10 (2^nd) at Asgiriya in Kandy in 1999 September.

Sri Lanka 164 / 10 (2^nd)at the SSC in Colombo in 1992 August.

IN AUSTRALIA:

Australia 224 / 10 (1^st) at the Oval in Hobart in 1989 December.

Sri Lanka 153 / 10 (2^nd) at WACA in Perth in 1988 February.

· BEST INDIVIDUAL SCORE:

IN SRI LANKA:

David Hooks 143 n.o. ( 2^nd)) in 201 min., 17 x 4’s, 2 x 6’s at Asgiriya in 1983 April.

Asanka Gurusinha 137 (1^st) in 525 min., 18 x 4’s) at the SSC in 1992 August.

IN AUSTRALIA:

Michael Slater 219 (1^st) in 460 min., 15 x 4s, 5 x 6’s) in Perth in 1995 December.

Aravinda de Silva 167 (1^st) in 491 min., 17 x 4’s, 1 x 6’s) in Brisbane in 1989 Dec.

· BEST INDIVIDUAL BOWLING:

IN SRI LANKA:

Muttiah Muralitharan had 5 / 71 / 38 0v. (1^st) at Galle in 1999 Sept.

Champaka Ramanayake had a Match Bag of 8 / 157 / 63.1 0v.

5 / 82 / 31 0v (1^st) and 3 / 75 / 22.1 0v (2^nd) at Moratuwa in 1992 Sept.

9 / 65 (2^nd) off 54.2 Overs at the Oval in 1998

Shane Warne had 5 / 52 / 16 0v. (1^st) at Asgiriya in 1999 September.

Bruce Yardley had a Match Bag of 7 / 166 / 51 0v.

5 / 88 / 25 0v (1^st) and 2 / 78 / 26 0v (2^nd) at Asgiriya in 1983 April.

Gregory Matthews had a Match Bag of 7 / 169 / 58 0v.

3 / 93 / 38 0v (1^st) and 4 / 76 / 20 0v (2^nd) at the SSC in 1992 August.

IN AUSTRALIA:

Romesh Ratnayake had 6 / 66 / 19.4 0v. (1^st) at Hobart in 1989 Dec.

Chaminda Vaas had a Match Bag of 6 / 150 / 63 0v.

3 / 106 / 42 0v (1^st) and 3 / 44 / 21 0v (2^nd) in Adelaide in 1996 January.

Paul Reiffel had 5 / 39 / 19.1 0v. (1^st) in Adelaide in 1996 January.

Glen McGrath had 5 / 40 23.4 0v. (1^st) at the MCG in 1995 December.

Merv. Hughes had a Match Bag of 8 / 156 / 53.2 0v.

5 / 88 / 31.4 0v (1^st) and 3 / 68 / 21.4 0v (2^nd) at Hobart in 1989 Dec.

· MOST RUNS IN THE TEST SERIES IN SRI LANKA:

IN Rns. HS AV. 100

Aravinda de Silva 08 378 85 63.00 00

Arjuna Ranatunga 10 349 127 43.62 01

Roshan Mahanama. 05 250 78 50.00 00

Gregory Matthews 06 329 96 54.83 00

Dean Jones 05 265 100n.o. 53.00 01

Ricky Ponting 04 253 105n.o. 84.33 01

· MOST RUNS IN THE TEST SERIES IN AUSTRALIA:

IN Rns. HS AV. 100

Steve Waugh 08 649 170 129.80 03

Mark Taylor 09 463 164 57.87 01

Michael Slater. 05 309 219 77.25 01 (a Double 100)

Aravinda de Silva 11 425 167 37.72 01

Arjuna Ranatunga 09 324 55 40.50 00

Asanka Gurusinha 09 305 143 33.89 01

l MOST WICKETS IN THE TEST SERIES IN SRI LANKA:

In. Ov. R W AV. Econ S / R

Muttiah Muralitharan 07 214.1 574 19 30.21 2.68 67.63

Champaka Ramanayaka. 06 145.4 434 17 25.53 2.98 51.41

Chaminda Vaas. 04 63.4 143 10 14.30 2.26 38.20

Craig McDermott. 05 124 342 14 24.43 2.76 53.14

Shane Warne. 11 94.2 273 11 24.82 2.90 51.45

Greg. Matthews. 05 120 312 08 39.00 2.60 90.00

l HOW THEY FARED IN THE TEST SERIES IN AUSTRALIA

In. Ov. R W AV. Econ S / R

Glen McGrath 06 154.5 438 21 20.86 2.83 44.24

Craig McDermott . 07 131.4 393 13 30.23 2.99 60.77

Shane Warne. 06 164.4 433 12 36.08 2.63 82.33

Chaminda Vaas. 05 137.4 370 09 41.11 2.69 91.78

Ravi Ratnayaike. 03 63.5 154 05 30.80 2.42 76.60

Champaka Ramanayake 04 75 261 04 65.25 3.48 112.50

Muttaih Muralitharan 02 92 348 03 116.00 3.78 184.00

Complacence has No-Room

in Test-Match Cricket.

-- A Bitter Lesson Taught --

What bitter lesson to prove this than that Sri Lanka learnt from the 1st Test against Australia in 1992 at the SSC Ground in Colombo, ‘gifting’ Australia a dramatic 16 run victory and also a 1-0 Series win (as the next two tests ended in no decisions).

DAY – 1.

Ranatunga won the toss and asked Australia to bat first on a pitch which offered some encouragement to the seam bowlers. Sri Lanka had immediate success when the score at 8 runs Tom Moody fell to Champaka Ramanayake, but it was the gentle medium pace of Chandika Hathurusinghe which gave the home side their grip on the match. He claimed the wickets of David Boon (32 in 118 min.), Dean Jones (10 in 13 min.), Mark Waugh (05 in 35 min.) and Captain Allan Border (03 in 20 min.) in the space of five 0vers, and, at 124 for 7, Australia were in despair.

It was at this point that Sri Lanka, showed a lack of conviction and self-belief. A dearth of penetrative bowling and some strangely defensive field-placing allowed Ian Healy (66 not out batting for over 3 hours and hitting 8 fours) and Craig McDermottt (22 in 39 min.) not only to halt the collapse, but also cajole 132 runs from last three wickets. Sri Lanka ended the day with nine runs without loss in reply to Australia’s 256 all out in 84 0vers.

DAY – 2.

Opener Roshan Mahanama (78 in 212 min. with 13 x 4’s) played with elegance and aggression but Hathurusinghe and Aravinda de Silva fell cheaply to be 3 / 137. Arjuna Ranatunga was in belligerent mood and took 29 off 3 overs from leg-spinner Shane Warne, including 3 sixes, to move to an unbeaten 69. Gurusinha was on 87 and Sri Lanka by the close of play at 3 / 265, were in a commanding position.

DAY – 3.

Sri Lanka passed 500 in a Test innings for the first time. Both Gurusinha, and Ranatunga completed centuries on the third morning. Their partnership realised 230, the second highest in Sri Lanka`s test history. Gurusinha (137 with 18 x 4’s) batted for nearly nine hours. Ranatunga (127 with 15 x 4’s and 3 x 6’s) hit his third Test hundred and played an innings full of blistering strokes, in batting for four-and-a-half hours and was out to a tired shot on the stroke of lunch. Marvan Atapattu was out first ball; his third nought in his first three Test innings. Romesh Kaluwitharana came to the wicket to play his first Test innings on a hat-trick. With vicious cuts and hooks he hit seven boundaries in his first 30 runs. In all, he hit 26 boundaries and was unbeaten on 132 (158 balls in 203 minutes) when Ranatunga declared at 8 / 547. Greg Matthews claimed 3 / 93 off 38 overs for the visitors.

With a first-innings deficit of 291, Australia were 0 / 26, when the game entered its rest day, giving them time to reflect, re-think and re-gather.

DAY – 4.

Sri Lanka with a bowling attack far from lethal were made to work hard against batsmen who were determined to survive. They managed to get only 7 wickets whilst giving away 367 runs. The Sri Lankan cause was not helped by a plethora of no-balls, they conceded in the match, 19 in the first innings and 34 in the second innings, was to prove significant later on in deciding the final outcome.

Helped by Mark Taylor (43 in 160 min.), David Boon (68 in 174 min.), Dean Jones (68 in 174 min.) and Mark Waugh (56 in 109 min.), Australia ended on 393 for 7, and Sri Lanka seemed to be in sight of a famous victory.

DAY – 5.

The Australian resistance continued on the final morning. Greg Matthews (64 in 195 min.) showed real grit, and he gained able support from Craig McDermott (40 in 63 min.). Helped further by a 82 ball 32 run knock in 98 minutes by Shane Warne, last three wickets produced 110 runs to reach 471 all out after 132 0vers. Don Anurasiri captured 4 / 127 in 35 overs and Champaka Ramanayake had 3 / 113 off 37 0vers.

Sri Lanka were left the task of scoring 181 runs in 58 overs to Win the match. It was more than may have been anticipated, but at the rate of 3 runs per over, it was not at all a difficult task.

Mahanama (39 in 73 balls) and Hathurusinghe (36 in 63 balls) provided a solid start with a 76 run stand. Although both fell in quick succession, Sri Lanka reached 2 /127 and victory, it seemed, a formality. Aravinda de Silva by then had hit 7 fours in scoring 37 runs from 32 balls. He then hooked rashly at McDermott and was well caught at mid-on by Border who ran some 30 yards to take the catch. Sri Lanka had no need of such wildness, and de Silva`s shot heralded a sensational collapse as in 17.4 overs, they lost eight wickets for 37 runs to be bowled out for a mere 164 runs in 51.1 overs, enabling Australia to claim a remarkable victory by 16 runs.

They were well on the way at 132 / 3, when Warne and Matthews triggered off a collapse. Apart from Gurusinha (31 not out in 88 balls) none of the seven other batsmen offered the required determination and devotion. The last 7 wickets tumbled for a mere 32 runs, with none reaching double figures! It was Warne's first major performance in a test and in a sensational spell of leg spin bowling he had the last three batsmen caught to finish with 3 / 11 from 31 balls. The main destroyer of the Sri Lankan innings was the ‘man-of-the-match’ Greg Matthews (4 / 76 in 20 0vers), the combative off-spinner who does not believe in defeat. Allan Border`s imaginative and positive captaincy also did much to bring about Australia`s first Test victory in Asia for nine years, but, in truth, Sri Lanka`s pitiful batting was a major factor in deciding the match. The golden opportunity of a famous victory was thrown away by loss of nerve. Not for the first time had Sri Lanka revealed their inability to maintain their challenge for the full five days.

In fact Sri Lanka suffered yet another collapse in the rain hit 2^nd test match at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, when they went from 4 / 240 to 9 / 258 after bowling out the Australians for 247. McDermott did most of the damage here with 4 / 53 in 20 overs.

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