These wins showed our character -Sanath Jayasuriya | Lanka rise up again

Just over three months ago, the Sri Lankan cricket team were being shot at in their team bus on their way to the Gadaffi Stadium.

Dealing with the trauma of March 3 would have been hard enough, but the team landed in London right in the middle of protests against alleged war crimes back home, where the Lankan army recently crushed the LTTE resistance.

Under the circumstances, it can’t be easy playing cricket. Under the circumstances, it’s only cricket that provides relief.

Sri Lanka beat the West Indies by 15 runs at Trent Bridge on Wednesday, their second comprehensive win on the bounce having thumped Australia by six wickets in their opener. “It’s been hard. These wins showed our character,” Sanath Jayasuriya said after the game.

Having not played together for a while, not many gave them a chance. Having lost to South Africa in the warm-ups, after they had only just managed to scrape past Bangladesh, they were expected to slink out of the group of death. Instead, with two big wins, they’re looking like strong contenders for a spot in the semis.

For the Lankan team, this event is an opportunity to reduce the hurt, and they’re intent on making the most of the painkillers.

“It felt odd getting into a team bus again to go from the airport to the hotel,” Sangakkara had said after the team landed in London, amidst high security. “For the team, the only thing that matters is the cricket,” he had said after the team bus had been blocked by protestors on their way to the ground the day they were to play Australia. There were protests against the government and the army at each of their practice games as well, but Kumar Sangakkara’s team have managed to ignore most distractions.

“The thing we’ve realised after Lahore is that life goes on.”

In control

On Wednesday, they were in control right through the 40 overs of cricket, thanks in no small measure to a blistering 47-ball 81 from Jayasuriya, the tournament’s oldest player (he turns 40 at the end of this month).

At the other end, Tillakaratne Dilshan played like he has done for the past couple of months — lots of power-hitting, lots of cheeky dabs, lots of entertainment, finishing with 74 of 47 deliveries.

The duo put on 124 runs in just over 12 overs as Lanka piled on an intimidating 192 in their 20 overs.

Source : Indian Express