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Bravo Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan side that pulled off a nerve-jangling one-wicket win over South Africa — notching up the sixth highest fourth innings Test chase — to seal the series 2-0 bears little resemblance to the one that had a dispriting tour of India last year. That team, led by Marvan Atapattu, managed just one victory in seven ODIs and three Tests. With key players either ageing or under-performing and with murmurs of internal dissension, the future looked bleak. Next the islanders lost a series to Pakistan at home, where they have been traditionally invincible. Sri Lanka's results in the limited-overs format, its strong suit, weren't encouraging either; despite pushing Australia to a third final in the VB tri-series, the side was beaten 2-0 by Pakistan. Talismanic opener Sanath Jayasuriya, dropped for the Tests in India, announced his retirement from Test cricket after the Pakistan series, but happily reversed his decision. The incoming chairman of selectors, Ashantha de Mel, cajoled Jayasuriya into boarding a flight to England.

Just as it seemed things had deteriorated to a point of no return came a defining moment of a wonderful kind. Forced to follow on in the first Test at Lord's, 359 runs adrift, the tale seemed all too familiar. Only Mahela Jayawardene, who had come into captaincy after Atapattu's back troubles forced him out following the Indian debacle, had resisted in the first innings. But against all expectations, Sri Lanka showed outstanding resolve in the second innings for a fighting draw — an outcome that sowed the seeds of belief. Jayawardene's hundred was crucial; six others made half-centuries. The defeat in the second Test could have set things back, but the third at Trent Bridge showcased all that is inspiring about Sri Lankan cricket. Muttiah Muralitharan, the off-spin genius, bowled his side to a famous series-tying win with eight wickets for a match haul of eleven. Jayasuriya failed with the bat, but picked up three wickets with his left-arm spin to support Muralitharan. Then the great left-hander showed he had made a Zidane-class comeback to the international game. A 5-0 sweep of the ODIs against England, and a score of 443, the highest-ever one-day total, against lowly Netherlands, were signs of things turning around. At the forefront of the resurgence have been Jayawardene, Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara, and Jayasuriya. The first, a batsman of world-class skill, was perceived as an under-achiever. Captaincy has brought out the best in the 29-year-old: the innings of 374, the highest by a Sri Lankan, and the world record 624-run partnership with Sangakkara in the first Test against South Africa were special. But his second innings hundred that set up the thrilling win in the second Test was, if anything, better. Muralitharan's record fourth successive ten-wicket haul — the second instance of his achieving this — was testimony to his being one of the greatest bowlers of all time.

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