Sri Lanka pound Australia as Dilshan scores maiden T-20 ton

Dilshan

Sri Lanka outplayed Australia in the first T-20 match played at Kandy with the help of a magnificent century by T. Dilshan. Sri Lanka set Australia a mammoth target of 199 runs which proved beyond the reach of a novice Oz side. Australia started brightly with the help of David Warner but he soon ran out of partners as the top order crumbled under pressure. Sri Lankan bowlers complemented the admirable effort with the bat, and reaped rich rewards by just doing the basics right. Suranga Lakmal and Dilruwan Perera were the pick of the bowlers.

Australia are touring Sri Lanka with a relatively young side under the leadership of Michael Clarke. They are certainly new to the business of climbing up the ladder instead of already being at the top rung. It is imperative that they take positives out of this result and come back with greater vengeance. To highlight these positives, David Warner was up-to the mark and fulfilled the role he was assigned in the side; Brett Lee came up with an admirable performance as well though his stats don’t show it. He was the only bowler who got his yorkers right which is so crucial in T-20 cricket.

Dilshan’s maiden T-20 century was the show-stealer but the Sri Lankan batsman played well all around him. Kumara Sangakkara and Jeewan Mendis scored at the required strike rate but more importantly gave Dilshan the maximum balls to put out of the park. Dilshan’s knock was characterized by uninhibited stroke-play and innovation. The Sri Lankan captain finds his feet much better in the shorter format of the game where he can get going from the very first ball and is not obligated to spend passive time on the pitch.

The next T-20 international is to be played on 8^th August. Both the teams would have their eyes set on specific motives. Having been defeated by massive margin in the context of T-20 cricket, Australia would want to put forth a better overall performance. They need to do better in all departments. Michael Clarke should try to use his resources more judiciously and not underuse his spinners as he did in the first T-20.

Sri Lanka were flawless today and to keep it up would be the only thing required. They must be mentally prepared for an Aussie backlash but if they are able to suppress that desperate attempt, they might hold sway for the rest of the tour.