Dear Editor,
The first one day international match played between Australia and Sri Lanka last Wednesday will be remembered for a very long time. Recordings of that match that highlights the concentration, determination, professionalism and discipline shown by the historic ninth-wicket partnership of 132 runs between Sri Lankans Lasith Malinga and Angelo Matthews, should be used as coaching material for teams wishing to raise their game.
The Sri Lankan 132 run ninth-wicket partnership has set a new world record, removing the 27-year-old record set by India’s Kapil Dev and Syed Kirmani at the 1983 World Cup, in which they scored 126 runs.
Sri Lanka was set a modest total of 240 to win, but was found teetering at 107 for 8 in the 26th over. Indeed many, even I, thought that an early defeat was on the cards for Sri Lanka. I thought with two wickets in hand and 133 runs to make that it was not the stuff victory is made of. I could not have been more wrong!
After Australian debutant leg spinner Xavier Doherty snapped up four quick wickets, it seemed as if the Aussies were destined to wrap up the Sri Lankan side and draw first blood in the competition. But the ninth-wicket partnership of 132 between Malinga (56 from 48 balls) and Matthews (77 from 84 balls) in which they clobbered, drove, pulled and edged the ball around and out of the pitch to put their side within one run of victory, stunned the Australians, who were now poised to lengthen their losing record for 2010 with six consecutive losses in all formats of the game since July.
The frustration that the Australians experienced under the floodlights at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) was evident in their body language as they watched boundary after boundary reduce their winning chances. Even with Malinga recklessly run out with the scores tied, Muttiah Muralitharan finished the match with a boundary, sealing victory for Sri Lanka with six overs to spare.
Looking at that match I could not help but wonder about our West Indies team. We have been in far better batting positions in cricket and would squander victory through poor shot selection and an endemic inability to concentrate when it matters.
Personally I wish that the coaching staff of the West Indies team and even our national team can source a copy of this match and learn from it. The West Indies go up against Sri Lanka in a few weeks. Let’s all hope that our boys can display very high levels of commitment, application and professionalism.
Yours faithfully,
Richard Francois