Sports unite all communities

Sri Lanka only has to climb just one step to reach the pinnacle of World cricket. Having thrashed New Zealand by a convincing margin of 81 runs in Tuesday’s first semi final, Sri Lanka has earned its rightful place in the final to be played on Saturday.

This is the second time that Sri Lanka is figuring in a final of a World Cup cricket tournament since its inauguration in 1975. Their maiden appearance in a World Cup final 11 years ago turned out to be a memorable one.

Under the able leadership of left-handed middle order batsman, Arjuna Ranatunga, Sri Lanka made the Australians eat humble pie in 1996. Ranatunga’s men had a smashing seven-wicket win over Australia in the final played at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore on March 17, 1996.

Once again, Sri Lanka has made it to a dream World Cup final. Mahela Jayawardene is now only a step away from emulating Ranatunga’s feat. Not only the people across Sri Lanka, but our South Asian neighbours India, Pakistan and Bangladesh would pray for a Lankan victory. Even the Caribbean fans would be joining Sri Lankans across the world in extending their sincere support to Jayawardene’s men.

Sport is a great leveller. Be it Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims or Burghers, all communities in Sri Lanka are cheering Jayawardene’s men as one family. They do not care for Prabhakaran’s terrorism as all communities come under one umbrella when it comes to sport.

Thanks to Amnesty International, our cricketers have acquired the much needed guts and willpower. The dirty ball game of Amnesty International, which tried to tarnish Sri Lanka’s image in the sports arena, has given more strength and courage to our cricketers to face any challenge.

So did that LTTE sympathiser who ran on to the field with a Tiger flag during the Super Eight match between Sri Lanka and Australia. They too have contributed in some way towards Sri Lanka’s success story.

In 1996 too we experienced a similar situation. When teams like Australia and the West Indies refused to play their World Cup first round matches in Sri Lanka citing security concerns, Arjuna Ranatunga and his men understood that they have a point to prove.

That strengthened their minds. That injected willpower in to Ranatunga’s men who eventually taught a memorable lesson to the Aussies. Though many expected Black Caps to prove their worth in the first semi final, they surrendered meekly. Right from the toss, everything went right for Sri Lanka.

But when Sri Lanka lost master blaster Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara, it looked Sri Lanka may not be able to put a commanding total on the board. But the Lankans handled the situation well. Especially Jayawardene played a well calculated and a mature innings.

He picked only the loose ones at the early part of his innings. That gave some an awful feeling that Sri Lanka is wasting overs. But once Jaywardene survived crucial stages, it was a treat to watch. He gave a rich account of batsmanship. At the slog overs, the Lankan showed no mercy to the New Zealand bowlers who were hit to all corners of the ground.

The Lankan batsmen were tactful enough to get their runs in stages as the New Zealand bowling lacked consistency. The last ten overs were extremely productive for Sri Lanka as Jayawardene’s men scored 103 runs losing just one wicket.

There were a couple of doubtful umpiring decisions, including that leg before decision of Chamara Silva who was ruled out to a ball which only found the inside edge of his bat. But in professional cricket, we have to take them in good spirit, without finding excuses all the time.

There was another good point which our cricketers proved. When Arjuna Ranatunga was playing, there was a belief that the left-hander has to score if Sri Lanka is to win. Similarly, many expected a run feast from Jayasuriya’s willow, if Sri Lanka is to win now. But Jayasuriya, who has played extremely well in the 2007 World Cup with two centuries, scored just one run before he was bowled in the semi final.

Adding salt to that wound was Sangakkara’s departure with the total on 62. Though Jayasuriya and Sangakkara could not make any big contributions, Sri Lanka managed to win. Beating that psychological barrier too is an important and positive sign.

Then we saw opener Upul Tharanga silencing his critics with a fluent 72. There have been an increasing demand to bring veteran Marvan Atapattu back as Thaanga has been off colour in the last few games.

But Tharanga regained his form when it mattered the most. Chairman of Selectors, Ashantha de Mel was one who firmly believed that we should not make panic changes at this crucial final stage and Tharanga proved the former Sri Lanka quickie is right.

The Sports Watch and the ‘Daily News’ will join millions of Lankans and their supporters in whishing Mahela Jayawardena and his men all success in the final hurdle.