THE Australia-Sri Lanka contest was once again dominated by the batsmen. Once Australia got 376, I always felt it would prove beyond the reach of the Lankans despite Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Dinesh Chandimal leading a spirited Lankan reply.

I must admit the slow-turning wicket caught me by surprise. It seemed to suit the tastes of Sri Lanka more than our boys, but I thought our batsmen did a splendid job when you consider Australia were 86 for two by the 20th over.

Promoting Steve Smith to three was a wise move as he’s been Australia’s in-form batsman all summer. The reshuffle led to Shane Watson batting lower down and I was pleased to see Watto make a valuable contribution. If Watson continues to feature in Australia’s eleven, I reckon it may be in the player and the team’s best interests if he continues to bat at either five or six.

Sri Lanka look a formidable force with the bat, but it’s a strikingly different story with the ball. Besides the class of Lasith Malinga, there really isn’t much else to worry teams. This was evident during the partnership between Smith and Clarke as well as the one between Glenn Maxwell and Watson later when the Lankan bowlers looked bereft of ideas. Undoubtedly, Rangana Herath was badly missed in this match considering the wicket.

Looking ahead to Tuesday’s game, the good news for Ireland is they’ve done incredibly well to win three out of their first four matches. The bad news is their last two games are against world champions India and a Pakistan team that looks to have rediscovered its spark.

India would be thankful in some ways for the wake-up call they were given by the West Indies in Perth. Small chases can be a lot harder than they look, as we’ve already witnessed in this World Cup when Australia faced New Zealand and the other night when South Africa were stunned by Pakistan. Complacency has a knack of complicating your task, even though it would be unfair to say it was the lone factor in unnerving the Indian dressing room possibly for the first time in this competition.

The Windies had just the kind of bowlers to capitalize on the extra bounce you come to expect at the WACA and it yielded a couple of wickets. But skipper M.S. Dhoni lived up to his well earned reputation as one of the game’s best finishers, as he and Ravi Ashwin eventually made it seem like an easy finish for India. Dhoni hadn’t got much of an opportunity in the middle prior to that game, so the fact that he spent valuable time at the wicket is another positive for India as their march continues.

With runs under his belt, Dhoni will now be hoping he calls correctly against the Irish as luck with the coin seems to have eluded him on the last two occasions. Whether the toss goes India’s way or not, they’ll surely be looking to notch up another dominant win.

By special arrangement for Dawn

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2015

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