Rangana Herath: Sri Lanka’s match-winning warhorse

Rangana Herath has been serving Sri Lankan cricket since 1999. He, then just another slow left-arm orthodox, had a role that of playing a second fiddle to spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan. And, after 17 years, he plays the role that of a match-winner.

Coming from a series defeat in England, Sri Lanka had a herculean task to even put up a good fight against the number-one ranked Australia, let alone winning a Test. Not that the team is young, it is just thin on numbers. And it simply hasn’t had enough international exposure to take on the giants of Test cricket, and is said to be in a rebuilding phase. However, there’s one man who has been serving Sri Lankan cricket since 1999. Rangana Herath, then just another slow left-arm orthodox, had a role that of playing second fiddle to spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan. And, after 17 years, he plays a role that of a match-winner. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Sri Lanka vs Australia, 1st Test at Pallekele

There’s nothing exceptional about Herath. He bowls finger spin and blocks the runs from one end. He is not as gifted as the former great spinners of the game. Neither does he have a mystery ball. Nevertheless, he has something Test bowlers toil hard to have it in their armoury: ability to read the batsman’s footwork and set him up with his stock delivery.

He did nothing different against Australia in the first Test at Pallekele. He did not give away easy runs, made the Australian batsmen work hard to find gaps, bowled a quicker one once in a while, and even came round the wicket. His tactics caught the batsman in two minds, and eventually, Herath picked a wicket and then another one until his team breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, it seems a tedious process, and he might even bore you with his long spells. But that’s his success mantra, and it paid off yet again.

After being bundled out on 117, a defeat was on the cards for the hosts. With the likes of David Warner, Steven Smith, to name just two, Sri Lanka knew their fate was in their bowlers’ hands. Nuwan Pradeep started of the proceedings by dismantling Warner’s defence, sending him back to the pavilion for a duck.

Angelo Mathews knew the Australians have trouble tackling the spin. With no other pace bowler in the line-up, he decided to introduce Herath in the second over. He conceded only 2 runs. In his next over, in the pursuit of deceiving Joe Burns with a quicker one, he drifted one down the leg-side, which resulted in 4 byes. He, then, went back to his original line and tossed it up outside off. Burns nicely guided it to silly point. With Herath already missing his line earlier in the over, Burns knew Herath would flight it again. But that’s Herath he was facing, someone who had tasted international cricket when Burns was just 10.

Herath bowled another flat delivery, this time in the line of stumps. Burns tried to play for the turn, only to know that the ball beat his inside edge, flashing the bails. Also read: Sri Lanka beat Australia by 106 runs in 1st Test at Pallekele

Just when Usman Khawaja and captain Steven Smith looked set for a big score, Herath outfoxed both of them to reduce Australia to 70 for 4. He, gradually, continued his superlative bowling display to send back Australia’s last mainstay batsman Peter Nevill to the pavilion. Eventually, the visitors were bundled out for 203, with a lead of 86 runs.

In the second innings, Sri Lanka were 6 for 2, heading towards a big defeat. In came Kusal Mendis with an experience of only six Tests. Australia was expected to show him the exit door as well. However, he stood tall in the face of adversity and amassed 176 runs to set a target of 268 runs.

The onus was yet again on the Sri Lankan bowlers. They knew the might of Australian batsmen, and they were well aware of Australia’s superior will to win the game, at any cost. Mathews followed the same strategy: a pacer from one end and Herath from the other.

The southpaw spinner yet again made early inroads to put Australia on the back foot. This time, he scalped Warner with his regulation delivery to present him a pair. However, Australia took the bull by its horns and kept the scoreboard ticking. They cruised to 96 for 3, with Smith and Adam Voges in the middle. Until then Herath had only scalped a solitary wicket in the innings.

Sri Lanka needed few more wickets to dent Australia’s spirit. Herath was at the end of his long spell, and a wicket was overdue. He tossed it up, inviting Vogues to shimmy down the track. What could have been a run turned out to be a wicket, as Vogues holed out straight to Herath. He bowled one more over after that and gave away a boundary. Also read: SL bowl record 154 consecutive dot balls during 1st Test

Mathews took him off the attack for the next 8 overs. However, the captain was mindful of Australia’s knack of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. He brought Herath back into the attack. Like he did in the entire match, he provided a crucial breakthrough, pocketing wickets of Mitchell Marsh and Smith.

Australia had lost 6 wickets for 140, four of which belonged to Herath. He had already set the stage for his side to beat the No. 1 team.

The visitors lost the next three wickets for just 21 runs. And then came the injured Steve O’Keefe, who delayed Sri Lanka from having the last laugh. He scored 4 runs off 98 balls, before he was castled by Herath’s peach of a delivery.

The veteran simply put his hands up in exuberation, and celebrated Sri Lanka’s 106-run triumph as well as his 24th five-for of his noted career.

To add to the fire, the 38-year-old warhorse has proved that age is just a number…

(Kaustubh S. Mayekar, a reporter at CricketCountry, played cricket at U-16 level. Like his idol Rahul Dravid, he often shadow-practises cricket shots. His Twitter handle is @kaumedy_)

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