Humiliated Sri Lanka have got to bounce back or the future looks bleak going forward.
Aussies rub salt in the wounds of beleaguered home team.
– BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE.
(eLanka Sports Editor).
Sri Lanka’s final embarrassment was delivered in ruthless fashion by Australia, and it took just two sessions to watch a helpless capitulation from a senseless batting performance by the home team in the firstTest in Galle.
The last rites of a clueless batting line-up except for tailender Jeffrey Vandersay, Kamindu Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal who battled the tide, emphasised the failure of relying on players whose use by dates have long expired.
Australia completed an innings a 242 run victory without breaking a sweat with their carefully crafted spin attack making Sri Lanka’s effort look less than second rate in comparison for a team respected for this specialist art.
Australia’s spinners, particularly injured Matthew Kuhnemann, Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy more than shaded Sri Lanka’s best, throwing up questions about the home team’s technique against spin. Mitchell Stark added to their anguish bowling with movement and pace that exposed Sri Lanka as a pathetic batting unit lacking any form of answers.
Kuhnemann 9 for149, Nathan Lyon 7 for 135 and Stark 3 for a few exposed Sri Lanka’s batters lack of technique at home and demands questions about their homework on the opposition.
Obviously the mindset was to overawe the Aussies with experience if they won the vital toss. Losing it, exposed them to a boomerang effect, and their atrocious work in the field did everything to contribute to their humiliation.
The loss broke several records from a local perspective conceding the highest total be any team visiting the country, their biggest loss in the history of playing the game at Test level since gaining status in 1982, among a host of other forgettables.
It was a great day for Australian cricket too as back in Melbourne, Australia’s women completed a whitewash over nemesis England in another merciless thrashing.
At the picturesque Galle International Stadium, the only positive for the locals was the breathtaking scenery surrounding this beautiful venue, while within, the home team was made to eat humble pie and have five days to try and reverse a demoralising and humiliating hammering which will be hard to recover from.
Healing the mental scarring will take some doing unless a different composition is introduced to infuse daring and better positive mindset.
On reflection, if tailender Jeffrey Vandersay was able to smash his way to a half century while the established batters played like they were dodging hand grenades, speaks loudly about a mental approach that lacked the fire and fight that should have countered what Australia’s batters did.
Australia have set the stage for a series sweep unless Sri Lanka can produce a miraculous turnaround from game one, which seems to lean heavily on the improbable.
Sanath Jayasuriya’s ride at the top in his coaching role is under acid test more for the lack of mental preparation and a plan B if things didn’t go to plan. His support staff are as responsible for their inability to sharpen the skills to the desired level.
What is more concerning is that the current squad appears to be content with mediocrity. Finger pointing, no accountability and everything that points to negativity seems to be the acceptable norm that suggests no remedial action to lift a team of pretenders.
They sat impressively at number three at the early stages before the wheels fell off. Cutting edge forward thinking is definitely not visible right now. But a change in the cultural set-up politically suggests a hope of a new dawn.
Game two will clearly define the path forward. Anything less than a face saving win will demand necessary changes to resurrect Sri Lanka cricket.
