When Sanath nearly pulled off the impossible

The Asgiriya Anti-Climax

by Aravinthan Arunthavanathan

The picturesque Kandy has been home to many key moments in Sri Lanka-Australia rivalry. While Asgiriya played host to Sri Lanka’s first Test win over Australia, Pallekelle was home for a famous win in 2016 leading to a whitewash thereafter. While these two encounters grab the limelight, an epic duel between both nations in 2004 is often overlooked.

The Aussie side of 2004 was one of the greatest units in modern era. Later that year they would go on to conquer their final frontier in India as well. Given the strength of the visitors, the 2004 series was promising to be an enthralling encounter. However, the first Test in Galle saw the Sri Lankan fortress being bulldozed by the rampant Aussies.

On the back of the Galle mauling, when both teams faced off in Kandy, there was a lot at stake for the home team. A confident Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat at Asgiriya. With Muttiah Muralitharan on the verge of 500 wickets all eyes were on the Sri Lankan bowling unit. The home side came to the party in grand style, courtesy of a resurgent Nuwan Zoysa and the ever-reliable Muralitharan supported by the consistent Chaminda Vass. The Australian line up was blown away for a meagre 120, their lowest against Sri Lanka. Muralitharan managed to grab the limelight by reaching his 500th wicket, clean bowling Michael Kasprowicz through the gate, a characteristic off spinner’s dismissal.

With a superlative bowling effort, the Sri Lankan morale was sky high. With the onus on the batsmen to drive home the advantage the Sri Lankan reply began. The response was jolted early as the Aussies breathed fire blowing away the Lankan line up in no time, leaving the tail fighting to salvage some respect. Vass came to the fore smacking an impressive unbeaten 68 aided surprisingly by Muralitharan, who scored 43 as if to celebrate his monumental achievement earlier in the Test. The Sri Lankans who looked not even good enough to post a lead at one stage with top seven wickets falling for less than 100, posted a 90-run lead thanks to Murali and Vass.

Sri Lanka managed to raise the expectations high by sending back the dangerous duo of Justin Langer and Mathew Hayden with the score not even reaching thirty. It was at this point that the aggressive instinct of Australians took over with Adam Gilchrist being promoted up the order. A rampant Gilchrist in the company of a classy Damien Martin employed the sweeps and drives to great effect, stitching a massive partnership putting Sri Lanka on the backfoot. The Australians notched up an impressive 442 setting Sri Lanka a 350 plus chase to create history.

At that time, the highest Sri Lanka had chased in the fourth innings was 326 against Zimbabwe six years prior. A chase of this magnitude was herculean given the prowess of the Australian line up. Two early wickets meant Sri Lankan expectations were diminishing fast. But there was a certain Sanath Jayasuriya who had other plans.

Jayasuriya had relinquished leadership in 2003 and was entering into a phase of his career where his contributions were under the scanner for the first time ever. Jayasuriya was having a lean patch and failures in the first three innings of the series were enough to raise speculations amongst skeptics. Like many times before Jayasuriya decided to answer the critics in style tearing into the strong Aussie line up.

Jayasuriya displayed his prowess on the offside partying with square cuts and drives scoring at a scintillating rate. Jayasuriya was specifically severe on Stuart McGill, heaving and lofting the leg breaks handsomely in the arc between long off and midwicket. With wickets falling at the other end Jayasuriya’s onslaught kept Sri Lanka in the hunt. Towards the end of day four Jaysuriya edged an attempted cut to Gilchrist severely impacting the Lankan chase. Following his exit rookie Tillakaratne Dilshan showed his promise scoring an impressive 43 leaving Sri Lanka in with a real chance.

As the final day began Vass and Kaushal Lokuarachchi, no mug with the bat at the crease the chase was a reality. Vass and Lokuarachchi scraped their way towards the target successfully bringing it down to under 40. With few edges going Lanka’s way the tide seemed to be turning towards, which could arguably have been Sri Lanka’s greatest Test win.

With expectations soaring, Vass tried to loft a classic Shane Warne leg break over the mid-wicket boundary only for the ball to land in the fielder’s hands. This saw the remaining wickets tumble in the hands of Warne’s mastery. Warne’s five wicket haul ensured there were no surprises, sealing a hard-fought victory which helped the visitors close off the series as well.

The Kandy Australia-Sri Lanka duel ended in disappointment but had its own share of highs. Australia went on to thrash Sri Lanka 3-0, but the series was far more closely contested than what the score line suggested. It was a series which witnessed highest quality of cricket with riveting battles. The Asgiriya duel stood out as one of the most intriguing encounters Sri Lanka has been part of. Especially given the strength of Australia at that time, not many teams managed to stretch that outfit, but Sri Lanka managed not only do so but almost topple the mighty Australians. For that reason the Asgiriya duel should be celebrated.