As I was thinking before the big game; if SL win the toss there will be 75-25 chance of winning but if Aussies did it will be just 10-90 chance. Nevertheless we started well and Aussies couldn’t do much – they only managed to score their lowest score in first 10 overs albeit the match is reduced to 38 over. Malinga did exceptionally well but Mahela had to pull Vass early ‘coz of Gilchrist started aggressive pick up. We were targeting big Hayden but less focus went to Gilchrist who hasn’t done much in the WC.
When play finally did start my eyes were on Vaas, who bowled the first over, It became quickly apparent that one of the finest bowler of swing could not find a shade of movement due to prevailing conditions, I was highly disappointed knowing that a high-scoring match looked on the cards; When a batsman like Gilchrist start scoring with 150% rate in the final is more than enough to add extra pressure despite the fact that rest of the batting did only average. I heard about Clive Lloyd’s first WC century and Viv’s in Second WC but Aravinda’s ‘96 century is still the best for me. It was the only century made in the second innings of a WC final. Nevertheless in reply, Jayasuriya and Sangakkara gave us a glimmer of hope with a stand of 116, but the Kangaroos eventually sealed their World Cup hatrick win after rain delayed, reduced overs, dramatic encounter. They were the only two batsmen who attacked all Aussie bowlers and gave bit of hope and pride to me.
Today morning one of my work mate (Ausie) – Julian came to my desk and told me that “I don’t like McGrath much but it was amazing the way Gillie hammered; Kumar and Sanath also hammered all our bowlers -it was unbelievable – I thought we’re going to loose the grip” I was really proud about Sri Lankan team – they didn’t let us down. In reply I told him that “we had a chance but luck was with Gillie”. I added, SL’s plan was to get in to semis and work from there – eventually we did that but I really wanted them to prove Aussies are beatable (we’ve done that many times even in Australia). Being runner-up is more than something for our little country. In an encounter like this we gotta be really sharp and should be able to make half-chances to our side. Dilhara did have a chance to end Gilchrist’s innings on 31 but could not take an awkward return catch off his own bowling. These are crucial if a team wants to beat powerful teams like Aussies. We have seen in the past when Jayasuriya start hammering around not any bowler wanted to ball. Batsman like him can take away everything from opponents however they don’t perform that often. Same goes to Gilchrist – powerful big hitter who can grab the match away from any team. Unfortunately it happened on 28th after winning the toss. It was a colossal damage nevertheless we responded strongly yet nothing came our way. Not even little bit of luck nor weather was sympathetic.
I thought we played really good cricket up to now, but that was a very special innings from Gillie. “The way he batted in a World Cup final was brilliant and totally took the game away from us.” Chivalrous Mahela said at the end.
I’m very proud of SL team performance throughout the WC. We did exceptionally well to reach finals. Well Done Sri Lanka!
