Sport | Cricket
'I believe we proved a lot of people wrong'
So farcical was the end that not enough attention was paid to Mahela Jayawardene's emotions at the post-match press conference yesterday.
- By Robin Chatterjee, Sports Editor
- Published: 23:38 May 3, 2009
- Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene (front) looks on in despair as his Australian counterpart Ricky Ponting (partially visible) scampers home for a single in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Saturday.
- Image Credit: Reuters
Bridgetown, Barbados: So farcical was the end that not enough attention was paid to Mahela Jayawardene's emotions at the post-match press conference yesterday.
But the Sri Lankan captain was realistic. The final had generated only two moments which were worth slotting in the history books: Adam Gilchrist's full cholesterol hitting on his way to a match-winning 149 and the shambles on the field in terms of umpiring.
Jayawardene gave his side of the story, but maintained his respect for the officials who ran the game. He asked that the embarrassing errors and the complicated rules be discussed in an open forum. In retrospect, he probably knew that John Wright, head of the Players' Tournament Committee, would follow after him to candidly admit that the panel of officials overseeing the game on the field goofed up.
Declining to blame any individual, or even the body of officials, Jayawardene displayed a heightened sense of understanding of the game by calling for the issue to be debated in an open forum in the future.
And then came the slight hint of emotion. "For me I can't say much. We played a final and lost a final."
Having led his team astutely, the Sri Lankan captain went on to highlight their achievements. "I am very proud of the boys. We put in some great effort. When we left Sri Lanka, we knew we were a good team, but no one expected us to be in the final.
Lifetime opportunity
"I believe we proved a lot of people wrong, purely because of the way we worked. Yes, I am disappointed at losing because this was a lifetime opportunity, but it was taken away by a brilliant knock from Gilli [Gilchrist].
"It was a brilliant innings," endorsed Jayawardene. "Unfortunately as an opposing captain, all I could do was stand and watch. But Gilli had done the same to us in a VB series final at Brisbane last year. When you score 149 in a little over 100 balls, in a 38-over game, the total becomes quite difficult to chase."
The sheer power of the innings would have rendered most captains helpless, with the realisation that there was no adequate back-up against this assault. But Jayawardene disagreed. "It was not a question of being helpless. You try different things and then there are mishits that go to the fence, but that's Gilli for you. You have to be patient and wait for the opportunities. I think 240-250 would have been a good score to chase. I also thought that Sanath and Sanga began the chase pretty well until the second cloud-cover came."
Probably the only way to stop the rampaging Aussies would have been to get a few of them to retire soon, joked Jayawardene.
"They just keep improving," he observed. "Their standards have gone up. A lot of the countries have competed with Australia in the past, but they just seem to have a little bit extra in the tank," he added.
Share this article
Popular in Sport
-
Pictures
Kings of the court
The world's top tennis players who will battle in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals
Sport Editor's choice
-
Murray still hopeful of semis slot
Andy Murray is still hopeful of putting his best foot forward after losing to world number one Roger Federer
-
India tighten grip as Dravid hits ton
Sri Lanka on 66 following Dilshan duck
-
Federer reclaims No 1 ranking
Swiss ace beats Murray at world tour finals
