Date-stamped : 14 Dec1998 - 21:24 Saturday 15, November 1997 World champs Lanka discover ``You can't win 'em all'' By SA'ADI THAWFEEQ You can't win 'em all. That is what world champs Sri Lanka discovered at Lahore. Sri Lanka who have been on a roll during the year, winning three out of three one-day competitions, finally met their match at Lahore, the scene of their World Cup triumph 20 months ago, when South Africa defeated them to take the Wills Quadrangular trophy offered by the Pakistan Cricket Board to celebrate the country's fiftieth year of Independence. At Sharjah where they won the Singer Akai Cup and in India when they won the Pepsi Independence Cup, Sri Lanka's opponents in the finals were Pakistan. In the Pepsi Asia Cup held in Colombo, Sri Lanka defeated their other Asian neighbour India in the final. Thus, in a way Sri Lanka's wins have largely been against sub-continent countries. Since their World Cup victory, Sri Lanka have seldom played countries like South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand and Zimbabwe often. Before the Lahore tournament, Sri Lanka had met South Africa only once after the World Cup in Kenya and won, West Indies and Australia twice each, Zimbabwe thrice, New Zealand five times and, England none at all. SA favourites Since losing their World Cup quarter-final game to West Indies at Karachi - a result which knocked them out of the competition, South Africa, who were one of the favourites for the Cup, have been yearning for a meeting with the eventual world champions, Sri Lanka. That South Africa came through at Lahore with flying colours, defeating Sri Lanka twice in the league phase and in the final, was in some way small compensation for a team that was stunned by their World Cup defeat at the hands of the West Indies. The catch that 37-year-old Pat Symcox, the oldest member of the South African team took to send back the world's no. 1 ranked batsman Sanath Jayasuriya, gave one the feeling that it was going to be South Africa's day. Such catches and some of those taken afterwards, don't stick often unless the script has been written for you. South Africa on this day were absolutely brilliant on the field. Their bowling was spot on, challenging the free-scoring Sri Lankan batsmen to take chances if they dare. Sri Lanka's top order took up the challenge, but with disastrous results. No big names The South African side does not comprise any big names like Jayasuriya, Aravinda de Silva or Arjuna Ranatunga. It was with absolute team work and total commitment they were able to outplay the world champions. They were 100 percent professional in everything they did. This was a tournament where South Africa's lap top coach Bob Woolmer, had planned out the strengths and weaknesses of the Sri Lankans to the minutest detail. As Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga pointed out, it was his side's batting that failed to deliver the goods. If one analyses Sri Lanka's victories in the World Cup and thereafter, it has been more often than not, the batting and the fielding that has won the matches for them. On this occasion, on a dew (less) Lahore night where the Sri Lankan bowlers didn't have much difficulty in gripping the ball, their task of bowling out or restricting the South Africans were very much limited, because the batsmen had failed to provide them with a competitive total. Faulty fielding Fielding for which Sri Lanka are renowned for, also faltered at crucial stages allowing the South Africans to coast home with nearly ten overs to spare. What was more galling than the disappointing batting and fielding, was the persistent number of no-balls bowled by our spinners. In this type of game, there is no excuse for spinners bowling no-balls and it had an overall effect in the result. The loss in a way would serve Sri Lanka well. It is often after such a setback that the losing team is forced to go back to the drawing boards and examine, what went wrong. Sri Lanka will have two opportunities to even the odds against South Africa next year when they play them in two triangular tournaments - one in South Africa in April (Pakistan being the third team) and the other in England in August. For hosts, Pakistan, it was a big disappointment not to make it to the finals of their Independence Cup tournament. Like neighbours India, who also didn't make the finals of their Independence Cup six months ago, Pakistan bowed out of the competition when they lost their decisive league game against Sri Lanka. Pakistan totally outplayed Pakistan won only one of their three league round matches, which was not enough to get them through to the final. Wasim Akram restored as captain once more, could do little to lift the spirit of his side, who were totally outplayed by South Africa and Sri Lanka. Pakistan's batting and fielding need to be disciplined if they are to harness the marvellous talent they have. It was indeed sad to see West Indies bow out of the tournament without a single victory. This once great cricketing nation which dominated world cricket for nearly two decades, is going through a transition period. When they will come out of it is hard to tell. Apart from Brian Lara, Carl Hooper and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, there hardly seems to be any cricketers of class who can take West Indies back to the heady days they once experienced. Two of the greatest fast bowlers in contemporary cricket, Curtley Ambrose and skipper Courtney Walsh seemed exhausted towards the end of their quota of ten overs, that they may in future limit their appearances from the hurly-burly of one-day cricket to concentrate their energies on the slower-paced longer game of Test cricket. At 35 and 34, Walsh and Ambrose, two dedicated servants of West Indies cricket for more a than a decade are in the sunset years of their international careers. Those hoping to replace them are nowhere near the class of these two great bowlers, which would only mean that the transition period is going to be an extended one. Klusener-career best bowling In both contests against Sri Lanka, 26-year-old Natal all-rounder Lance Klusener made a big difference. In the league game, Klusener returned career best bowling figures of 6 for 49, and in the final, he improved on his personal highest score by making 99. His brilliance on the field enabled Klusener to win two successive `Man of the Match' awards, and underlined his value in the team as an all-rounder. He is the only player to figure in both batting and bowling averages in the tournament apart from Aravinda de Silva. During the tournament, Jayasuriya achieved the rare feat of scoring 1000 runs in a calendar year at both levels of cricket - Test and One-day Internationals. De Silva, who also went past the 1000-run mark in one-day matches for the 1997 calendar year, became only the fourth batsman in the history of one-day competitions to top 7,000 runs (see table). Of the four who have now achieved this landmark, three are Asians, while the odd man is former West Indies opener Desmond Haynes, who holds the world record with 8,641 runs. Pakistan batsman Ijaz Ahmed also reached 1000 runs for 1997 during the tournament. Source :: Daily News (http://www.lanka.net) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)