A view from the Gully (28 May 1999)

28 May 1999

A view from the Gully

Tawfiq Aziz Khan

Captain Arjuna Ranatunga had his worst nightmare.

The world champions were buried alive on the small square of a beautiful town in Somerset called Taunton on Wednesday. Azharuddin's men could very well be 'tried' for cruelty to the weak and incapable, at least that was what the champions appeared on this fateful day against India. The score was so huge and the margin of victory so staggering that Azhar could afford the luxury of inviting Ranatunga and co for a second knock.

The match - vitally important for both teams for survival and a berth in the Super Six, fused into a no-contest after an initial flicker that burnt Ramesh with a Vaas delivery that can hardly be bowled in a thousand try. From then on the packed stands stood on their tired feet, hands developed sore muscles and throats went dry. The Indians mesmerised their supporters with the kind of powerful hitting that was hitherto unknown to these soft-peddlers.

Somerset was awarded first-class ranking in 1891. Taunton, Bath and Weston-super-Mare might have been regarded as charming backwaters of the game but not when they became the stage for Viv Richards, Joel ('Big Bird') Garner and England's own Ian Botham. The Club was founded in 1875, according to Wisden. The county club acquired the ground from the Taunton Athletic Company and secured a lease for the ground in 1885. The club has shown an interest in improving facilities at the ground by the River Tone (in which a couple of balls were lost Wednesday) ever since 1891. Taunton will certainly be remembered as the stage where in 1925, Jack Hobbs scored his 126th and 127th centuries to surpass Dr WG Grace's record. Two more innings will be remembered by spectators: Viv Richards who took 322 off Warwickshire in 1985 and Graeme Hick the Worcestershire batsman who scored 405 not out in 1988 and so nearly reached the record 424 scored by A.C. MacLaren of Lancashire in 1895.

What on earth prompted Ranatunga, supposed to be a clever leader, to invite India to bat first on a wicket that showed no signs of assisting seam bowlers despite experts predicting so, and that too with the attack at his disposal, was a million dollar question. Even the experts shut their mouth as the rampage began. Sri Lankan bowling was pathetic and fielding bad, conceded Ranatunga.

In my time I have seen some lusty hitting, but never before had I seen such brutality against genuine medium pacers and a match-winning spinner. It will remain a mystery for a long time to come to unfold what happened to these two batsmen Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly. Unless they were possessed by 'Maa Kali' or driven by the shadow of Sachin Tendulkar, the innings they played were beyond them. Stranger was the fact that Dravid took the initiative to clobber the Sri Lankan attack and Saurav followed suit. What overcame a normally circumspect Dravid could be anybody's guess. He was more aggressive and ferocious as long as he was at the wicket. The regular bowlers came for severe punishment as they were mesmerised to bowl to the liking of these two.

Sri Lanka had a taste of their own medicine.

Records were rewritten and hearts broken as the Lankans submitted themselves to the mercy of the belligerent Indians. Dravid equalled Mark Waugh's performance of back to back century in World Cup. India were now on a must win situation in their last match against England for smooth slide into the Super Six and the Lankans must come off with a big win against Kenya in their last match and wish for a England victory over India to keep their remote chances alive. Very interesting.

Kenya turned out to be the 'sick man of Africa' with four losses in as many matches. They started well against South Africa but lost their way against the military medium pace of Lance Klusener on the picturesque Amstel ground in Holland. It appeared from the interviews of the people that Cricket is a game played behind their back in Holland. Nonetheless the atmosphere was superb and facilities good. Klusener, who bats left-handed, picked up five Kenyan wickets to claim his third 'man-of-the-match' medallion in four matches. South Africa landed safely in Super Six.

Source :: The Daily Star