All credit, should go to the victorious Sri Lankan Team and its Management. The cricketing ambassadors of Sri Lanka brought glory and honour to the country. Well Done - keep it up!
It is the first time, a competition of such nature has ever been held in England. It is also the first time tat coloured clothing has bee worn in One-day Internationals and a white ball used in a day match. This added more colour to this tournament and a carnival atmosphere appeared in the venues. The Sri Lankans were there to cheer their heroes.
Winning the toss, England after a glorious start, scored 256 for 8 wickets in their allotted 50 overs. Openers Nick Knight (94) and Mike Atherton (64) gave them a dream start (132), but Muttiah Muralidaran, the Insurance man had other ideas. He spun a web around the Englishman and returned the magical figures of 10-0-34-5. Thus, he created a record in the home of cricket - Lord's, surpassing the bowling feats of Joel Garner, Gary Gilmour and Darren Gough - a great by any standard.
Sri Lanka's victory is creditable for many reasons. Firstly, they showed the cricketing world they still richly deserve the epithet ``World Champions.'' They proved a point to England, that they definitely worth more than ``One off Test. Englishmen were the people who sowed the seeds of cricket in Sri Lanka. Today, they have tamed them in their own den. Further, they transmitted a signal that they are ready to take the challenge of retaining the World Cup in England next year. This victory also will open gates to some of the Sri Lankan cricketers to play for English counties.
Sri Lanka had an inauspicious start. Sanath Jayasuriya, dazzling batsman fell a victim to Gough ``beauty'' without a run. Lord's scoreboard read 2 runs for 1 wicket. Any one who has played cricket at any level have their days of disaster, as well as their days of glory. To be dismissed is a disaster for every batsman.
Cool and calm Marvan Atapattu walked in and joined Romesh Kaluvitarana.
Cricket is the greatest team game. Yet, it is intensely personal at times. That is one of the beauties of cricket.
Using the conditions to their advantage Gough, Martin and Mullaly, rolled all their tricks under their sleeves, but Romesh Kaluvitarana and Marvan Atapattu lighted the Lord's.
Smallish man, opener Kaluwitarana got to where he wanted by quick footwork and no coaching manual was intended for him, to pulverise the attack. Marvan Atapattu, who had marvellous gift of getting into position quicker than any batsman on this day, playing straight and accurate, became the cynosure of all eyes. Determination was written on his face, His footwork was wonderful and mastered the art of timing the ball.
Kaluwitarana and Atapattu planned their innings so well, they collected their singles and frustrated the bowlers and never allowed the bowlers to dictate terms to them.
The pair after adding a record-breaking 2nd wicket partnership, lost Romesh Kaluwitarana for a well-compiled 68, when the scoreboard read 140 for 2 wickets. Kalu after playing a very responsible innings, departed throwing away his wicket, when a century was in his bag. This is a weakness that he must get rid of it. He played a supporting role and helped Marvan in a big way.
Aravinda de Silva then joined Marvan Atapattu. I don't think that I have seen a man so vicious with a loose ball as Aravinda can be. He is so sharp in judging the length of the ball. What is more, he can place the ball with such astonishing accuracy. He smashed Martin for three consecutive fours across the shinning out field of Lord's and the 35th over yielded 16 runs and eased the pressure.
Departure of Aravinda was a blow to Sri Lanka. Arjuna and Upul came and went. But determined Atapattu, played an anchor role and remained unbeaten with a career best 132. Any hundred in any grade of cricket is something to remember. But a hundred at Lord's is something very unique. More than a century, Atapattu guided Sri Lanka to a superb win to clinch the Emirates Trophy.
My memory goes back to 1982 the time that I was coaching Nalanda under 13 team. In the final played at the NCC grounds on 15 and 16 of December 1982, Nalanda beat Ananda by a wide margin of 100 runs and annexed the Junior Cricket Plum, Sri Lanka School Cricket - the Division One Championship Trophy for the second consecutive year. Out of a Ananda total of 127, the tiny-tot Marvan Atapattu scored a brilliant 57 and showed the qualities of a future champion.
One of the main reasons for Sri Lanka's victory against England in the Finals was a Team Effort. To begin with they had a bad game in the qualifying rounds. Hard working, knowledgeable Manager Ranjit Fernando and coach Roy Dias, together with Arjuna and its team discussed where they went wrong and corrected themselves. Their morale was high. This helped Sri Lanka to beat a good side like England and South Africa. One of the best teams in international cricket circuit. A special word should be mentioned about physio Alex Kountouri, who, as usual did a marvellous job.
I have been following Marvan for many years and I had the privilege of being his cricket manager at Sampath Bank in the early 1990's. Although, he failed in Test baptism, I always had a feeling that he will come good, as his technique was superb. Even in the South African Tour I saw him blossoming into a fine batsman.
Sri Lanka will meet England on 27th at Surrey Oval in their one-off Test. This will be an acid test for Sri Lankan cricketers. Of course it is a different ball game.