Dushmantha Chameera – Bulletproof Truth

Group A’s Goliath and three Davids

“I want to be the man-of-the-series in this World Cup.” — Sri Lanka’s Bhanuka Rajapaksa isn’t short on confidence.

Telford Vice / Geelong, Victoria

FOUR teams, two matches, one day. Or around seven hours of Sunday. Geelong, Victoria’s second city, will kickstart the men’s T20 World Cup with a pair of doubleheaders featuring a Goliath and three Davids. Who will cast the first stone? Who will be shown to be living in a glass house? Who will gather moss?

Enough with the stone analogies already. Except to say that two of Sri Lanka, Namibia, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates will want to be the rocks from which the statues of the two Group A qualifiers for the 12-team second round are sculpted.

Closer to the truth is that the Namibians, Dutch and Emiratis will contest a single berth. It was difficult to imagine the Lankans slipping up against any of the other teams in the group even before Dasun Shanaka’s side won the Asia Cup in the UAE last month — which only underlines the islanders’ status as favourites to go through.

It’s tempting to consider Namibia or the Netherlands the favourites to snag the second spot, not least because the UAE have lost seven of the 13 T20Is they have played in 2022; most of them against the modest likes of Nepal, Germany and Singapore. On top of that, they have gone down in all three of their previous T20 World Cup games and 11 but of their dozen ODI World Cup matches. But the Emiratis have also beaten middling Ireland all three times they’ve played them in the format this year. So upsets — and any win for the UAE in this tournament would be an upset — are within their reach.

As a drop-in pitch, Geelong’s surface defies historical analysis and adds to the uncertainty of what might unfold, although the forecast for early rain — which washed out one of all four teams’ warm-up matches on Wednesday and Thursday — could enliven the surface at least for the initial exchanges of the day’s, and the tournament’s, opening fixture.

Sri Lanka look like they have too much firepower in all departments to be undone by Namibia in that match. The return of Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara from the injuries that kept them out of the Asia Cup fits that script, and creates the prospect of a showdown with David Wiese, Namibia’s nuclear option.

If the UAE are to flip someone’s applecart, they would do themselves and everyone watching a favour by getting it done early in the piece rather than when it no longer matters. And there’s an even chance of that happening on Sunday — the UAE have won exactly half of their eight T20Is against the Dutch. The Netherlands prevailed the last time the teams met, in Dubai in October 2019, but the Emiratis reeled off four consecutive wins against them earlier in the same year.

You might not expect Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Yoko Ono to have some wisdom to contribute to this conversation, but this is all about the unexpected so sit tight. “Nothing is written in stone, as a career is an unpredictable journey,” Ibrahimovic said. Ono said something similar: “Nothing is written in stone. So don’t prepare yourself for a long and lucrative career. You might die tomorrow. Your gold holdings might become dust. Just make the music you want to make now and enjoy it.”

You heard them. Nothing is written in stone.

When: Sunday, 3pm and 7pm Local Time

Where: Kardinia Park, Geelong

What to expect: Morning rain that should clear before the start of the first match and stay away, thermometers that hover a degree or three under room temperature, and not a deluge of runs — 200 was breached nine times in the 2021/22 BBL, but not in any of the three games played at this ground in January.

Team news:

Namibia: The impact Morné Morkel makes as bowling consultant in his initial foray into international coaching is sure to be closely watched.

Possible XI: Stephan Baard, Michael van Lingen, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Gerhard Erasmus (capt), David Wiese, Zane Green, Ruben Trumpelmann, Jan Frylinck, Bernard Scholtz, Pikky Ya France, Ben Shikongo

Sri Lanka: Dilshan Madushanka seems in doubt having limped out of the nets holding his hip after bowling four balls during Saturday’s training session.

Possible XI: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Danushka Gunathilaka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (capt), Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara

Netherlands: Scott Edwards, the Dutch’s Melbourne-raised captain, has played 68 white-ball internationals — but is set for his debut in Australia.

Possible XI: Vikramjit Singh, Max O’Dowd, Stephan Myburgh, Bas de Leede, Tom Cooper, Scott Edwards (capt), Teja Nidamanuru, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Shariz Ahmad, Fred Klaassen

United Arab Emirates: At 16, left-arm spinner Aayan Afzal Khan is the youngest player in the tournament. He won’t turn 17 until two days after the final on November 13.

Possible XI: Muhammad Waseem, Chirag Suri, Aryan Lakra, Vriitya Aravind, Chundangapoyil Rizwan (capt), Basil Hameed, Zawar Farid, Aayan Afzal Khan, Karthik Meiyappan, Sabir Ali, Zahoor Khan

What they said:

“I look at the team compared to the first World Cup we played in, and there was a nervousness around. Of course there is again but there is more of a sense of calm.” — Stephan Baard on the progress Namibia hope to have made.

“I want to be the man-of-the-series in this World Cup. It will all come with the hard work that we’ve put in.” — Sri Lanka’s Bhanuka Rajapaksa thinks big.

“I suppose all the pressure is on Sri Lanka and Namibia from our group having played in the Super 12s last year.” – Colin Ackermann indulges in a spot of deflection, Netherlands style.

“What’s passed has passed. It’s a completely new team. There’s not even one person who has played a World Cup for UAE before on this team.” — Chirag Suri hopes for a brighter future for the UAE.

First published by Cricbuzz.

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Bats in the belfry, not on the pitch

“On a wicket that is tough, and is going to get tougher as the game goes on, to lose three wickets in the first five overs and four of your top six in the first 10, you’re always going to be on the back foot.” – Mark Boucher

Telford Vice | Cape Town

PRAVEEN Jayawickrama looked like a cherub startled by the sudden emergence of a bat from a belfry. His eyes were wide and bright as he stood and stared at Heinrich Klaasen under the glare of the Premadasa’s floodlights in Colombo on Tuesday. And why not.

Jayawickrama had completed the sixth over of South Africa’s reply with a delivery that pitched on a decent spinner’s length and skewed crazily past the outside edge of the driving Klaasen’s bat, as if it was a ping-pong ball that had found the edge of the table. Cordite hung in the dampening evening air but there was no smirk on Jayawickrama’s face. Just the truth: if you thought this was over, think again.

South Africa were then 22/3. They had been 8/1, then 9/2, then 19/3. Soon they would be 45/4. They had successfully chased more than Tuesday’s target of 204 in ODIs in Asia 19 times. Number 20 is still out there: they were dismissed for 125 in 30 overs — their second-lowest completed total against Sri Lanka and their third-lowest in Asia.

Jayawickrama, big eyes and all, was not the sharpest thorn in their flesh. Instead, most of the damage was done by Maheesh Theekshana, a 21-year-old off-spinner who sparkles with the rare jewel of the carrom ball. He had Janneman Malan caught at slip with his first delivery in international cricket on his way to a haul of 4/37.

But, for Mark Boucher, the star was Dushmantha Chameera, the only fast bowler the Lankans used, who nailed the top of Reeza Hendricks’ off stump and had Rassie van der Dussen wonderfully well held just off the turf by a diving Kamindu Mendis at short midwicket in the third and fifth overs. “That was the turning point of the game, which was frustrating because everyone in our top order has had a good knock in the previous two games,” Boucher told an online press conference. “They’ve spent some time out in the middle; the guys are in good form.”

Malan’s 121 on Saturday was the highest score of the series on either side. Aiden Markram made 96 on Thursday, and Van der Dussen and Hendricks also banked half-centuries. But those successes didn’t translate into more runs when it mattered.

“On a wicket that is tough, and is going to get tougher as the game goes on, to lose three wickets in the first five overs and four of your top six in the first 10, you’re always going to be on the back foot,” Boucher said. “Although we kept up with the [required] rate the whole time we just lost wickets. They did bowl well — they bowled smartly. Their seamer bowled with good energy and in good areas, backed up by some good catching.”

During the presentation Chameera himself offered a modest assessment of his performance: “The wicket was slow, so I didn’t try to do too much. I just tried to find a consistent length.”

The bigger picture in the wake of Sri Lanka’s 2-1 series win is that South Africa are now in danger of not finishing, in the Super League standings, among the top eight teams who will earn automatic qualification for the 2023 World Cup. Sri Lanka started the rubber in 11th place with South Africa one position above. The Lankans are now fifth and the South Africans ninth — and still nine wins away from the 12 victories that should ensure a place in the top eight. Boucher’s team should gather all the available points, weather and Covid-19 permitting, in upcoming home series against the Netherlands and Bangladesh. But they also have to play rubbers in India and Australia, and against England at home.

Unlike on Thursday, when Sri Lanka won, and Saturday, when South Africa levelled matters to set up the decider, the sun shone boldly for most of Tuesday’s daylight hours. A pitch that had hinted at harbouring turn in the first two games basked in the drying heat, and spun accordingly.

So much so that Keshav Maharaj, George Linde, Aiden Markram and Tabraiz Shamsi sent down 40 overs between them. Or seven more than the South Africa record for an ODI that Pat Symcox, Nicky Bojé, Derek Crookes and Paul Adams managed against India at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in December 1996.

If that match from almost 25 years ago seems familiar it might be because it was the game that cricket’s criminal underworld offered Hansie Cronjé USD200,000 to throw. It took several team meetings, where the thought to try to have the offer increased to USD250,000 was floated and indeed acted on by Cronjé in a phone call to his gambling confidante, before the South Africans rejected the proposal.

There was a lot wrong with the visitors’ batting on Tuesday, but it would be difficult to believe they lost on purpose. Having bowled and fielded with aggressive intent and been duly rewarded with a nominal target to chase, they discovered the Lankans were even more intent on doing the same in conditions that were far from unfair but certainly favoured their strengths.

For the first time in the series the home side were able to put significant pressure on South Africa’s batters, who succumbed as much to rasping bowling and catching as they did to questionable stroke selection.

Not for the first time, South Africa crumbled under that kind of pressure. It wouldn’t be fair to say they choked because they were in a winning position only between innings. But they will be worried. Suddenly, the World Cup looks as far for them as it seems near for teams like Sri Lanka. You would have to have bats in your belfry not to see that.

First published by Cricbuzz.

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If fairness be the fuel of cricket, let Karunaratne play on

South Africa lost five wickets for fewer than 100 runs in all of their 14 Test innings last season, and 9/84 on Monday.

Telford Vice | Wanderers

A happy clamour rose from the outfield near the boundary at the Corlett Drive End of the Wanderers before play resumed on Monday. It sounded too hopeful to come from a team who had been dismissed for 157 on Sunday, and who were only nine runs ahead with nine wickets to get before their batters would have a chance to redeem themselves. But, yes, that team was Sri Lanka, who seemed to be having too much fun warming-up for day two of the second Test.

Less than four hours later, a different sound emanated from the field. It was made by Vishwa Fernando bellowing in defiance. And well he might have. Fernando had led the visitors’ effort to stay in the match by taking 5/101 in 23.4 overs of relentless aggression.

It is not intended as a backhanded compliment to say he made South Africa’s batters look Sri Lankan in their timid and sluggish response to his deliveries, which sniped off the seam quickly enough to force errors. Debutant Asitha Fernando posed a similar threat, and a pitch that had quickened — as Wanderers surfaces are wont to do after the first day — allowed the Lankan new-ball pair to strutt their stuff in style.

South Africa planned to bat once, as they did to win the first Test in Centurion. Instead, their lead was limited to 145. What with their last nine wickets disappearing for 84 runs in less than 25 overs, you might wonder how they managed to forge that far ahead.

The answer was the 184 that Dean Elgar and Rassie van der Dussen shared for the second wicket. Elgar took his overnight 92 to 127, his 13th century and the first scored by a South Africa opener at home in 11 Tests. Van der Dussen, who walks out to bat to the fury of a song by a seminal Afrikaans punk rock band, Fokofpolisiekar, which translates as Fuck Off Police Car — sample lyrics: “Aim for my heart/It pumps wilderness in here/” — made a gritty, gnarly 67. The unappreciative will complain that he hasn’t scored a century in his 43 innings across the formats.

For almost four hours Elgar and Van der Dussen built South Africa’s advantage resolutely while ensuring the Sri Lankans couldn’t get the memory of their own awful batting out of their heads. But once they were separated, early in the second hour when Elgar nudged Dushmantha Chameera to first slip, the match swung and it was the South Africans who were left to wonder what might have been. None of their other nine players reached 20 or faced more than 30 balls.

Brittle batting is hardly a new problem for the home side, who lost five wickets for fewer than 100 runs in all of the 14 Test innings they had against India and England last season. In half of those innings, five wickets tumbled for fewer than 50. On Monday, the first five wickets that fell went down for 39 runs and the last five for 45. However you measure it, that’s the eighth occasion in 16 innings that South Africa have sacrificed five for fewer than 50.

The home side were probably still thinking about what had gone wrong this time when they were welcomed back into the field by the ominous opening of Beethoven’s fifth symphony booming from the ground’s speakers. Was the doomful music meant for them or their opponents?

By then, Lungi Ngidi had already had an eventful time. He drove the second ball he faced, from Vishwa Fernando, handsomely through the covers for four, hammered him down the ground for another boundary, chested him over the wicketkeeper for still another, and was smacked square on the side of the helmet by Asitha Fernando. Ngidi’s fend to gully ended the innings and completed Vishwa Fernando’s five-wicket haul. The big South African filled the gaps between those events with mighty blows that, often, did not connect.

So there was little surprise that Ngidi was central to the next nugget of drama, which came with the 15th ball of Sri Lanka’s second innings. Delivered from round the wicket, it snuck through Kusal Perera’s uncertain drive. The ball hit nothing except the leg-side bail, and broke it in two. In the desolate concrete cavern, leather splintering wood sounded like bone crunched between teeth.

Nothing as visceral happened for the next hour-and-a-half while Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne took Sri Lanka into the final hour with a stand of 86 that was ended by a delivery from Ngidi that looked to be veering harmlessly down the leg side until Thirimanne flapped at it and gloved a catch behind. With his next ball, which swung still further, Ngidi removed Kusal Mendis the same way, this time with the help of Quinton de Kock’s diving catch.

Mendis paused before he trudged off, perhaps to wonder what he had done to deserve a hattrick of ducks in the series, this one a first-baller. Not many steps into his journey back to the dressingroom, he had cause to pause again — this time to pick up his bat, which he had dropped.

With an hour left in the day, surely the meanest delivery debutant Minod Bhanuka has yet faced leapt off the top edge of his horizontal bat and steepled into the dazzling afternoon sky. The ball had been bowled by Anrich Nortjé, and it would take some catching. Keshav Maharaj, who has yet to bowl in the match and lasted for only eight deliveries with the bat, made many metres towards the midwicket boundary, flung himself headlong, cupped the catch in both hands, crashed to earth, and held on. Even if he has no other personal reason to remember this match, he has that. And the noise his amazed teammates made as they ran all the way to where he lay and then rose to mob him with praise.

Far from that madding throng the quietest man on the ground stood solitary at the other end of the pitch. He was still there at stumps, alone in his zen garden, deep in the sound of his silence. He had nursed his team into the lead with an innings of more than three hours of selfless stillness. It might have been ended twice in the last three overs, once with an edge over the slips, then with a blooped return catch that fell safely. And deservedly so. Sri Lanka, just five runs ahead with four wickets already lost, probably won’t win this match. But Karunaratne deserves the nine runs he needs to reach his century.

First published by Cricbuzz.

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What happens when Test cricket gets ugly

South Africa ended a difficult year by playing some of their most impressive cricket, but they deserved better than this pitiful spectacle.

Telford Vice | Centurion

NOT until they were required on the field did Sri Lanka show their faces at Centurion on Tuesday. While South Africa took to their half of the outfield to warm-up for the fourth day of the first Test, the visitors either sulked or licked their many wounds in the nets, depending on your preferred view. Or they were away from all eyes because they would resume 160 behind with an uncertain number of wickets in hand, and needed all the batting practice they could get.

At lunch, when the Lankans were 77 behind and seven down, Dushmantha Chameera and Asitha Fernando appeared on the field to bowl on one of the unused pitches. There was a spring in their step that had been robbed from Dhananjaya de Silva, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Wanindu Hasaranga and Dinesh Chandimal. They had all suffered injuries on the first three days, but only de Silva had been ruled out — for the rest of series.

Cruelly, on another strip on the other side of the match pitch, Kagiso Rabada, freshly returned from a groin injury, bounded in like a man who couldn’t wait for the next time he would be in the XI. That will be on January 3, when the second Test starts at the Wanderers.

The last of the five wickets that fell in the morning belonged to Vishwa Fernando, who was run out in the last act of the session in the throes of confusion no doubt exacerbated by Hasaranga’s knee or ankle injury. Hasaranga ditched his bat, pads and gloves at the boundary, and began hobbling up the 48 steps to the dressingroom.

The second session began with Aiden Markram bowling from one end and Keshav Maharaj from the other — perhaps in a bid to revitalise the over-rate — and with Hasaranga at one end and Rajitha at the other. A pitiful spectacle unfolded with neither batter able to run, made even worse when they forget they were unable to run.

South Africa lost patience with the softly-softly approach after six overs of spin, and Lutho Sipamla steamed in — and Hasaranga hit him for fours through long-off, gully and down the ground. A menacing over from Anrich Nortjé followed, in which Rajitha leapt about like a lizard trying to escape a jam jar and scored no runs.

Hasaranga went two balls later, heaving Sipamla to long-off. His 59 came off 53 balls, and 54 of it flowed in sixes and fours. And with him went a lot of guts and grit. It took six more balls to end the match, which happened when Rajitha blipped Norjé to gully.

Wiaan Mulder, who had two catches dropped in the first session, added two wickets to the three he took in the first innings, and looked throughout like he wasn’t playing in only his second Test. He will play many more.

It hadn’t been Test cricket’s finest three hours. South Africa had claimed an emphatic victory, by an innings and 45 runs, but at what cost to the game? If this had been a boxing match, it would have been stopped in the second round. If it had been a football or a rugby match, fresh, healthy legs would have been sent into the fray. But this is cricket, which in these circumstances seemed anachronistic and brutish.

South Africa, too, deserved better. They ended a difficult year by playing some of their most impressive cricket for several years. Faf du Plessis proved, again, what a peerless asset he is to his team. Dean Elgar and Markram represented the old and new guards with aplomb. Temba Bavuma shouldn’t have walked, but he had been superbly composed and decisive until that moment. Sipamla showed courage to come back from a flaccid performance on the first day and earned his respect the hard way. Already, Mulder has made a strong case to be regarded as South Africa’s first-choice allrounder.

But we will struggle to remember those bright points. And struggle to forget stricken players trying to give of their best when they were far from their best. It is not a pretty memory.

First published by Cricbuzz.

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