| A Greek tragedy |
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| Written by HW Squadstats | ||||||
| Tuesday, 20 November 2007 | ||||||
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Set 507 to win with a couple of days of play left, Sangakkara's 192 and 100-run partnerships forged with Atapattu and Jayasuriya put Lanka on track for a historic win, but a middle order collapse saw them fall from 265 for 4 to 290 for 8. The Lankans can be forgiven for wishing that Silva had produced one of the two pointless 40's he scored in the previous match here instead, for that was the only thing that stood between a martyr and a victor.
Australia's wins at home usually come on the back of phenomenal batting performances, and when their strong batting line up bats first without the pressure of chasing a tall total looming down at them, it is virtually unstoppable. In a script almost exactly the same as that of the first Test, with Jaques and Hussey scoring centuries (150 and 132 respectively) and Clarke, Symonds and Gilchrist playing support roles (71, 50 and 67 in that order), Australia had little difficulty in applying their regular formula of putting up a 500+ total (542, in this case and 210 for 2 declared in the second innings) and batting the opposition out of the game. The difference between the two teams is that clearly, Australia have atleast 7 batsmen in their ranks who are used to and more than capable of playing a big, 150+ knock, while Sri Lanka have barely 3 or 4 players who can match that. In effect, while an Australian innings will invariably play to the pattern of two or more players playing twin lead roles, and racing with each other whilst forging large partnerships, a Lankan innings, especially playing away from home, will have one or two of their players leading the charge with the rest chipping in, if at all, with cameo 40's and 50's. The support structure relies too heavily on individual magnificence. That the Lankan batting provided better resistance in the second Test (246 in the 1st innings, Jayawardene 104, Sangakkara 57 and 410 in the second, Sangakkara 192, Atapattu 80, Jayasuriya 45, Malinga 42*) goes to support a point the Australians themselves had made when they toured India in 1998 and 2001, that a two or a three test series gives the visitors very little time to acclimatize, and atleast four tests are needed if an even contest is to be seen. Perhaps Lanka would have performed even better had there been a third and a fourth Test, but as of now, the score stands at 2-0, with Australia sitting pretty on a perfect springboard to take on the Indians.
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