Sports
Marvan’s blitz- Durban 2003
by Aravinthan Arunthavanathan
In a world full of glitz, glamour and grandeur more often than not the old schoolers often go unnoticed. Sri Lankan cricket has been blessed with many who have embodied the former and a few who have lived by the style of latter. Marvan Atapattu is the torch bearer for the old school traditionalist. Having opened with the flamboyant Sanath Jayasuriya for most of his career it is no surprise Marvan’s deeds have unfortunately being overlooked.
Recently a famous sports page in Sri Lanka ran a poll figuring out the best knock ever by a Sri Lankan in ODI cricket. A knock which glaringly failed to grab the limelight was Marvan Atapattu’s 124 vs South Africa in Durban during the 2003 World Cup. The knock in writer’s viewpoint shall rank amongst one of the top knocks by a Lankan for a plethora of reasons.
Sri Lanka going into the 2003 world cup were rank outsiders given a torrid run up to the tournament getting hammered in South Africa and Australia winning only three out of thirteen games. However as always Sri Lanka pulled their socks on the world stage gaining momentum in the tournament. Having beaten the Kiwis in the curtain raiser followed by bashing of minnows Sri Lanka were well on their way to the super eights. However an ambush by the Kenyans in Nairobi meant Sri Lanka were back to suqare one. A win against the Windies in Newlands set the campaign back on track. However ahead of the final group game against the home nation South Africa the complexities of qualification led to chaos. All of a sudden Sri Lanka risked elimination if handed a hammering. The skipper Jayasuriya and the management had expressed dissatisfaction at the ambiguity surrounding qualification. Nevertheless it was a situation where stakes were high.
Durban definitely had to be one of the last places Sri Lanka would have preferred to play a crunch game. It was a wicket which was green and hand bounce and sideways movement which exaggerated towards the evening session. It was a track where technique would prevail over flamboyance. This meant Sri lanka’s natural instincts had to be curbed. Given the hammering received in the run up a big loss was not an improbability.
Taking first lease of the wicket Marvan uncharacteristically raised the tempo early on the innings playing fabulous straight drives and a confluence of cover drives off proteas skipper Shaun Pollock helping Sri Lanka grab the momentum early in a crunch game. However faced with the early loss of Sanath Jayasuriya, Atapptu had to pull back to add stability to the innings.
However with Hashan and an out of form Mahela at the other end Marvan relaized he did not have the luxury of playing sedately, instead Marvan targeted the rookie Monde Zondeki cracking him through the covers and points for boundaries and stepped up the gaps against Andre Hall and Kallis who were the weak links in an attack led by Pollock and Ntini. Marvan’s time aggression led him reach his half century while the team score was around ninety showcasing the dominance he had displayed in the innings.
With Mahela too back in the hut Marvan was joined by Aravinda in whose company Marvan continued his domination. Marvan stepped repeatedly down the wicket to Lance Klusner’s cutters needling the off side field along the ground and through the aerial route a rarely seen feature in Atapattu’s standard approach. Keeping up the momentum Marvan would reach a marvelous century with a exquisite coverdrive with the Lankan score on 183.
Having reached his century before the 40th over, Marvan set foot on the accelerator boosting Sri Lanka’s score with effortless ease. Finally when he held out in the 45th over in the deep it was safe to say he had put Sri Lanka beyond the risk of elimination setting the platform for a 250 plus score.
The game would be filled with drama later on with rain and miscalculations of South Africa’s part but it was no reason to take the glee off one of the finest ODI knocks played by a Sri Lankan on the biggest of stages with high stakes. It’s a knock which is not recollected mainly because it did not rely on pyrotechnics and power but subtle touch and grace.
It is often said that when the going gets tough the tough gets going and Marvan certainly did that with aplomb in this instance and later on against Zimbabwe in the super six stage ensuring Sri Lanka’s qualification to the Semi Finals which was a surprise given the performance in the lead up to the tournament
Successful teams are built upon match winners. However for those glamorous match winners to do what they do best it’s the characters like Marvan who have to play the second fiddle when the going is good and step up when faced with storms. Marvan has played many similar knocks but this would definitely be a stand out.
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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