By Srian Obeyesekere
Sri Lanka enters the final phase of riding through an England invincibility of already 2-down series defestist battering to a pride salvaging third test reality in a final fling third test at the Oval on Friday.
Indeed, Sri Lankan Skipper Dhananjaya de Silva leads a modest mix of experience and youth with few of the old order down to shedding the jade in the primarily game dictating batting front to coming to terms against a literally lightning England attack thriving on pace and movement.
In that yardstick, young 25-year old, Kamindu Mendis has best exemplified that difference in underlining the youth young blood factor.stading on the burning deck to some extraordinary stroke play to carrying the attack to the English typified by excellent footwork. His second innings 113 at Old Trafford and first innings 74 at Lords in the wake of twin centuries earlier this year to three test centuries from four appearances setting him apart as the new Lankan batting Prince on the blocks. So much so that the cricketing experts have been agog to hailing the left-hander as Sri Lanka’s Lower Order X-Factor..
That England’s strong armour success in it’s foursome pace attack has been the physical targeting venom of the top order Lankan batting to buying wickets by the bouncing, rearing ball in the form of Woakes, Stone, Potts and Atkinson taking over from the injured Matt Wood. for the second test with record breaking century to boot flying colors at Lords.
Into the final reckoning, Sri Lanka’s specialist batsmen will necessarily have to shed half measures to rising in an overall oneness to a big score to challenging England. Individual performance will most certainly have to be replaced by wholehearted team work to cohesive solidness. Like Mendis, newcomer Milan Rathnayake has displayed sheer guts right down the line with a fighting 71 in the first test and 43 in the second that must serve as an example to the more recognised lot in the pack.
In the bowling Sri Lanka performed a praiseworthy job of bowling out England for 251 in the second innings at Lords with seamer Asitha Fernando bowling his heart out for a 5-wicket haul to claiming 14 wickets from the two tests – by and large gallantry against the odds. Not having an adequate support bowler upfront has been a handicap Fernando has carried in such a lone job that has prompted former captain and batting icon Kumar Sangakkara to comment that Fernando needs the right back up while also pointing the weak upfront in the batting that Dimuth Karunanayake has been hampered for want of lending fusion. His partner Nidhan Madudhka, a batsman who virtually forcef himself to the top job by some record breaking scores in domestic cricket, has been thrown to the wolves on seaming English wickets against a top top attack. Skipper Dhananjaya has lamented the fact that Sri Lanka had just one acclimatizing game ahead of the tests which has been unhelpful to adjusting to testing English conditions.
That England’s success has come from bad starts in all of their four first innings to mounting match winning scores has been a bugging factor to the Lankans. But that the bowlers have fallen short of bowling out England on those early breakthroughs has exposed the attack to lacking the desired finishing firepower. Joe Root has been the iron man to walling England with the bat to twin century record breaking greatness as England’s highest century making run getter. Adding to the bargain has been young debutante Gus Atkinson with a roaring debut ton and 5-wicket haul record feat in a test match in 46:years to joining an elite band of Indian Vinod Mankad who was the first to
the feat in 1951 and countryman Ian Botham in 1978.
Sri Lanka overly faces a last tilt tall order of bleeding a rampant England minus their trump card skipper Ben Stokes sidelined by injury. Dhananjaya’s team does possess the ability of delivering, but unleash the gelling fusion to big runs and maximising early breakthroughs to bringing down mighty England.
