Sri Lanka’s sensational run-chase at the Gabba and other Houdini acts in ODIs

Mahela Jayawardene’s men nearly pulled a rabbit out of the hat against Australia in the first final of the Commonwealth Bank (CB) series. Had they crossed the line at Brisbane, it would arguably have been the ultimate Houdini one-day act of the summer Down Under. 

 

By Nishad Pai Vaidya 

 

“In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail“- Vince Lombardi

 

Mahela Jayawardene’s men nearly pulled a rabbit out of the hat against Australia in the first final of the Commonwealth Bank (CB) series. Had they crossed the line at Brisbane, it would arguably have been the ultimate Houdini one-day act of the summer Down Under. It has been a series of close finishes, but this one would have stood out for the sheer fight and verve with which the Lankans tackled what seemed a hopeless cause at one point of time in the run-chase.

 

At 144 for six, chasing 322, only the bravest punter would have put his money on Sri Lanka. Keeping the equation aside, the two batsmen in the centre were Upul Tharanga – a man who had made just nine runs from three games in this series, and Nuwan Kulasekara- a useful lower order batsman, but someone who is in the side primarily for his bowling. Furthermore, the Australian bowling attack had some formidable names in their ranks. Brett Lee and Shane Watson had their tails up and were running in with great energy. Considering all these odds stacked against them, it was a grand effort by the Sri Lankans – albeit in a losing cause.

 

Stats reveal a very interesting tale when it comes to victories achieved by rearguard action of the lower order. Firstly, for batsmen who have batted from No 8 to 11 in run-chases, only two have score over 70 in a victorious cause. A Sri Lankan victory would have seen Kulasekara join the list.

 

Here is a list of the highest scores achieved by batsmen (from No 8 to 11) in victorious run-chases:

 

Player	Match	Score	Balls	Fours	Sixes	SR
No 8 Heath Streak	Zimbabwe vs NZ at Auckland, 2001	79*	67	4	5	117.91
No 8 Naeem Islam	Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe at Chittagong, 2009 – 5th ODI	73*	90	4	4	81.11
No 8 Deryck Murray	West Indies vs Pakistan at Birmingham, 1975	61*	76	6	0	80.26
No 9 Thomas Odoyo	Kenya vs Ireland at Nairobi, 2007	61*	36	5	1	169.44
No 8 Asif Mujtaba	Pakistan vs Australia at Perth, 1997	60*	56	5	0	107.14

 

If Kulasekara had continued his fight and seen Sri Lanka through, Heath Streak’s 79 not out would have been antiquated. Even if Tharanga had guided the tail and sealed the deal, Kulasekara would have been third on the list. Although, Kulasekara’s name doesn’t feature in the table, it certainly reflects upon the greatness of his knock.

 

Secondly, a Sri Lankan victory would have seen them making a mark on a different page in the record books. Having lost half their side, with over 190 runs to get (deficit that is), only three teams have mustered a victory from such a hopeless situation. Here are those games:

 

Match	Team batting 2nd	Score at the loss of 5th wicket	Runs required  at said point	Final score
New Zealand vs Australia at Hamilton, 2007	NZ	116 for 5	231	350 for 9
Ireland vs England at Bangalore, 2011	Ireland	111 for 5	217	329 for 7
Zimbabwe vs New Zealand at Auckland, 2001	Zimbabwe	64 for 5	210	274 for 9

 

Sri Lanka lost their fifth batsman with 125 on the board – 197 runs behind the target. A positive result would have seen them stand alongside great victories such as Ireland’s shocker over England during the last World Cup.

 

300-plus target no longer a psychological barrier? 

 

The way Tharanga and Kulasekara approached their task told one a lot about the modern one-day game. A 300-plus total seems no more the humongous hurdle it was at one point of time. Even until the early 2000s, teams chasing 300 or more would be either circumspect or attempting to break the shackles instantly, which would generally result in collapses. With the advent of T20s, the fortress of 300 has been breached on numerous occasions. Teams plan their run-chases and back themselves even if they have to score at about 10 runs per over in the last 10-15 overs.

 

There have been 44 occasions where teams have scored more than 300 in successful run- chases. If one is to ignore the results obtained by the Duckworth-Lewis method and the instances where the target was in the late 290s and 300 were invariably achieved, then it leaves us with 38 instances. Of those 38 instances, 25 have occurred since the beginning of 2006. This coincides with the time when the world started taking note of the shortest format.

 

Quite clearly, the effect of T20 has had an impact on ODI when you realise the fact that in the first 34 years of ODIs, there were just 13 successful instances of teams chased over 300.

 

(Nishad Pai Vaidya, a 21-year-old law student, is a club and college-level cricketer. His teachers always complain, “He knows the stats and facts of cricket more than the subjects we teach him.)

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