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World Cup 1996: Sri Lanka butcher Kenya before Hashan Tillakaratne swaps hands mid-over

Sri Lanka tore through the Kenyan bowling attack to post 398 for 5, the highest total at the time. Hashan Tillakaratne provided some antics towards the end as well.

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The Kenyans thought Sanath Jayasuriya’s 27-ball 44 was the end of the onslaught, but...  © Getty Images
The Kenyans thought Sanath Jayasuriya’s 27-ball 44 was the end of the onslaught, but… © Getty Images

March 6, 1996. Kandy witnessed a collective savage act from the Sri Lankans against the hapless Kenyans. Abhishek Mukherjee looks back at a run-fest full of records followed by a quirk from Hashan Tillakaratne.

Note: Some of the records have been broken since this article was written.

Sri Lanka had already topped the group and Kenya were out of the tournament, reducing the last match of Group A to a mere formality. Even then, Maurice Odumbe’s decision to put Sri Lanka in (it probably had to do with the fact that Sri Lankans had chased down 272 against India with ease) was one Kenyans have probably have nightmares of.

You do not challenge a line-up consisting of Sanath Jayasuriya, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Asanka Gurusinha, Aravinda de Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga, Hashan Tillakaratne, and Roshan Mahanama, with Kumar Dharmasena and Chaminda Vaas waiting for their turn at the crease. No, that is not a wise thing to do, especially on a flat pitch in a small ground (with the ropes drawn in to a significant extent) at Sri Lanka’s own den when their batting was on a roll.

Softening up

Martin Suji and Rajab Ali had had a good tournament till then — till they ran into Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana that day. The pair reached 50 in 3.2 overs and were separated before they added 83 in 6.4 overs. A desperate Maurice Odumbe had to turn to his brother Tito, who eventually had Jayasuriya caught by David Tikolo.

It was merely the seventh over, and Maurice Odumbe had already used four bowlers. Tito Odumbe bowled Kaluwitharana shortly afterwards. Between them, the openers had scored 77 from 45 balls with 9 fours and 5 sixes — but that was merely an indication of the carnage of what was to follow.

Aravinda’s ton

De Silva walked out to join Gurusinha in the ninth over, who had begun somewhat watchfully. The run rate never dropped as de Silva began to flow, his pulls and drives lighting up the small Asgiriya Stadium. Gurusinha joined in the fun as well, and hit a ball out of the stadium.

After some investigation a new ball had to be acquired. Meanwhile, when he reached 69, Aravinda became the first Sri Lankan to register 5,000 ODI runs.

On 79 Gurusinha tried to clear the ground again, this time off Aasif Karim, and was dropped by debutant Lameck Onyango. He tried an encore 3 runs later, and this time Onyango did not make an error. This probably gave the Kenyans a slight ray of hope (though 271 for 3 from 38.3 overs was hardly hope-inducing in 1996). How wrong they were!

Arjuna comes to the party

The fun began with Ranatunga’s arrival. Aravinda may have shown signs of leniency, but Arjuna was merciless. He started off with a violent square-cut. Soon afterwards, de Silva became the first Sri Lankan to score a World Cup hundred, reaching the landmark in 92 balls. Determined to outdo him, Ranatunga launched a furious assault on Kenya.

Once they reached the 46th over, the batsmen had a mid-pitch conversation, and turned maniacal thereafter. Ranatunga placed his strokes so clinically — mostly behind square on either side of the wicket — that the fielders stopped chasing the ball. The shoulders started dropping as the public, not separated by a fence (unlike in most subcontinent grounds), cheered in unison.

Runs came at an astounding rate. Sri Lanka set a new World Cup record when they went past West Indies’ 360 for 4 (which was scored against them in 1987). They also registered the highest ODI score, going past England’s 363 for 7 — which was, however, scored in 55 overs.

When he reached 33, Ranatunga joined de Silva to the 5,000-run mark in ODIs. De Silva eventually went past Jayasuriya’s 140 to register the highest score by a Sri Lankan in a World Cup. He was caught by Hitesh Modi off Suji for a 115-ball 145; Tillakaratne was run out for a golden duck shortly afterwards, but Ranatunga was not yet done with them.

Sri Lanka eventually finished on 397 for 5 — or that was what the scoreboard showed. A run was later added to the total. Ranatunga finished on 75 not out from 40 balls with only one six. Given that Jayasuriya had not yet launched his Singapore adventures, it could have been the fastest ODI hundred of the time (Mohammad Azharuddin was the existing record-holder, reaching there in 62 balls). The Sri Lankans also hit 12 sixes — a record at that time.

The Sri Lankans had scored 67 in the last 4 overs. Rajab Ali, who had taken 10 wickets in the tournament till then at 12.30 at an economy rate of 3.48, went for 67 from 6 overs. The target looked almost impossible, and it turned out to be so as the Kenyan innings progressed.

Tikolo salvages some pride

Kenya were not expected to win chasing 8 an over, and they did not. Dipak Chudasama gave them a steady start, but they were reduced to 51 for 3 shortly afterwards. It came to playing for pride, and with Modi giving him company, Steve Tikolo carved out an innings to match those by Aravinda and Arjuna.

Steve Tikolo eventually fell for a 95-ball 96 before some lusty blows from David Tikolo and Onyango they finished on 254 for 7, and certainly did not disgrace themselves. They joined the fun, hitting 7 sixes, thus helping create a new record for most sixes in a match (between them the two teams hit 19 sixes, while the existing record was 13).

A little quirk in the end

Ranatunga had picked up 2 wickets towards the end. Probably encouraged by his own success, he asked Tillakaratne to bowl his off-breaks in the final over. Tillakaratne played for Nondescripts Cricket Club, the name originating from the fact that the club did not distinguish between cricketers while selection.

Probably influenced by his club’s motto, Tillakaratne decided not to show bias towards any of his hands. He sent down 3 balls with his left-arm, informed the umpire, and promptly switched to off-breaks. It remains the only known instance of switching hands during an over in an international match.

What followed?

– Sri Lanka went on to lift the World Cup.

– Sri Lanka’s 398 for 5 remained a world record till Australia amassed a humongous 434 for 4 against South Africa at New Wanderers a decade later. The record did not last four hours: South Africa chased down, finishing with 438 for 9 in 49.5 overs. Sri Lanka, however, reclaimed their record three months later, piling up 443 for 9 against Netherlands at Amstelveen.

– Sri Lanka’s score has been bettered only once in the World Cup — by India against Bermuda at Queen’s Park Oval in 2007. They scored 413 for 5.

– Tillakaratne finished his ODI career with 6 wickets — a list that included Alec Stewart and Nasser Hussain.

– Aravinda’s score remains the highest by a Sri Lankan in World Cups, though Jayasuriya (189) holds the record for the highest ODI score by a Sri Lankan.

– New Zealand hit 22 sixes against West Indies in 2013-14 at Queenstown, which remains the record for most sixes. The record for most in a match is 38, set by India and Australia at Chinnaswamy in 2013-14.

– Among Kenyans, only Collins Obuya (98* against Australia at Chinnaswamy in 2011) has scored more than Steve Tikolo’s 96 in World Cups. They scored 264 for 6 on that occasion, their only World Cup score in excess of their 254 for 7 at Kandy.

– Kenya had a sweet revenge in World Cup 2003, pulling off an upset 53-run victory over the Lankans at Nairobi. Obuya had emerged as the hero on that occasion too, picking up 5 for 24. Both sides went on to lose in the semi-final.

Brief scores:

Sri Lanka 398 for 5 in 50 overs (Aravinda de Silva 145, Asanka Gurusinha 84, Arjuna Ranatunga 75*, Sanath Jayasuriya 44) beat Kenya 254 for 7 in 50 overs (Steve Tikolo 96, Hitesh Modi 41) by 144 runs.

Man of the Match: Aravinda de Silva.

(Abhishek Mukherjee is the Deputy Editor and Cricket Historian at CricketCountry. He blogs here and can be followed on Twitter here.)

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