It was Test cricket at its best. It had its downs and ups, fast scoring at times with screeching brakes applied in the final two epic hours in the just concluded Kandy Test.
It was gripping how Australia’s Peter Nevill and injured Steve O’Keefe stayed together for 105 minutes while scoring only four runs.
It appeared impossible for the number 7 and 10 batsmen to survive the last session and a half, especially as the No.10 batsman O’Keefe had pulled hamstring the previous day and was to be sent home after this Test.
He could barely walk and running was out of the question. Still he faced 98 balls and survived 105 agonising minutes against top quality spinners on a spinner’s paradise and scored four runs.
Although only four runs were added by the gallant pair off 178 balls, it was far from boring. I could not move from my seat as I saw ball after ball defended by Nevill and O’Keefe as if their life depended on it.
About time this new rule of injured batsmen not allowed a runner is revisited. I do realise that some batsmen in the past were taking unfair advantage and have a fleet-footed runner instead.
But genuine injury, as O’Keefe suffered, did require a runner. He could not run. Full stop! Australia must have lost almost 25 runs due to this.
First Australia was on top leading by 86 runs in this Test after the first innings. Then came Sri Lanka’s Kushal Mendis on the scene. His 176 runs (with 24 fours and a six) changed everything.
His splendid innings outscored Sri Lanka’s total of 117 in the first innings and Australia’s 161 in the second. Mendis was the worthy man of the match.
Not to forget Sri Lanka’s slow left-arm spinners Rangana Herath (4-49 and 5-54) and debutant Lakshan Sandakan (4-58 and 3-49) and Australia’s off-spinner Nathan Lyon who took five wickets in the match and 200th in his Test career.
Sri Lanka won by 106 runs. Pity so few were present to cheer their players beating the strong No.1 Test team. It was Steven Smith’s first defeat as Test captain. As a consolation, he was the only Australian to score a fifty in this exciting topsy-turvy Test.
The do or die defence by Nevill and O’Keefe reminded me of the 1961 Adelaide Test between Australia and the West Indies.
Needing 460 runs to win, Australia was 9 down for 207. A certain defeat was looming when no.11 batsman Lindsay Kline joined Ken Mackay. They survived for the last 100 minutes adding 66 runs for the unbroken last wicket to ensure a draw for the home team.
But the history was not repeated in the just concluded Pallekele Test in Kandy.
Back to my lament. Should a runner be allowed for a batsman who is incapable of running, according to a medical certificate? Isn’t it time the new runner rule be reviewed?
What do Roarers say?
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