Angelo Matthews, Dinesh Chandimal and Dimuth Karunaratne lead Sri Lanka cricket revival. Experienced trio save Sri Lanka some blushes against Afghanistan – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE (eLanka Sports editor)
Afganistan showed the cricketing world that their lack of Test cricket experience will not be a long term deterrent as they made Sri Lanka sweat before recording a ten wicket win in Colombo.
The plucky Afgans looked done and dusted when they folded for 198 in a sorry first innings effort. But they fought back with bat and ball after Sri Lanka’s batters galloped to a 241- run first innings lead.
Their batters then hit their straps to give Sri Lanka some anxious moments overhauling the deficit without any discomfort against an attack that destroyed them in the first innings.
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Sr Lanka’s pacemen found their early success hard to replicate as the wicket appeared to flatten out to batter friendly conditions and certainly spin friendly.
Off spinner Prabath Jayasuriya capatilised on it to grab 5 wickets to peg the free scoring Afganistan batters back and pulling the Afgan lead back in Sri Lanka’s favour.
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It begs the question about where Sri Lanka cricket is in at the moment if they struggle against relative newcomers to the format.
The following white ball version may reveal the answer to that question.
Afganistan with comparative inexperience and no real structure has exposed teams such as Sri Lanka as worrying countries who seem to he struggling with off field activities that has derailed their true potential.
Sri Lanka’s win in their maiden Test against the Afgans would definitely have drawn a sigh of relief from the selectors and coaching staff whose gamble on a mix of experience and youth finally paid off.
Angelo Matthews (141), Dinesh Chandimal (107), and former skipper Dimuth Karunaratne, (77), were the architects of this win which set up a formidable total that was sufficient to stave off an Afganistan upset.
Matthews and Chandimal in particular were the long forgotten heroes of the past deemed lost to re-selection, but the selectors pulled a joker from the pack which was a master stroke.
Afganistan will be no pushover in the limited overs version, and Sri Lanka’s performance will reveal what they are made of if they cannot dominate the visitors in their own backyard.
