Lankans Dominate In Double-Wicket Tourney (18 Nov 1996)

18 November 1996

Lankans dominate in double-wicket tourney

They came. Saw. And conquered.

Given that the `they` here refers to Sri Lankan stars Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda D`Silva, Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana, what else is new?

At Bombay`s Wankhede Stadium on Saturday, the Sri Lankan masterblasters dominated the Veedol-Ruia double wicket competition, organised to raise funds for the prestigious Ruia College. And, in the process, showed up the pretensions of Sachin Tendular, Vinod Kambli, Robin Singh, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid.

The stellar attraction, on a day studded with feats of big hitting, was Aravinda D`Silva. Reverting to the sort of strokeplay that earned him the sobriquet of Mad Max on the international cricket stage, D`Silva hammered a total of 18 sixes and eight boundaries, as he partnered his captain Arjuna Ranatunga to a win in the competition and the first prize of Rs 160,000.

In an all-Lankan final, D`Silva and Ranatunga edged out Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana by four runs. Chasing 33 for a win, the D`Silva-Ranatunga combo got past the target off the last ball of the game, with D`Silva slamming 50 runs with four fours and four sixes out of a total of 56. Ranatunga managed to make a mere five runs.

The two were out five times, reducing the score by 20 runs. Coming into the last over of the match, bowled by Jayasuriya, the Lankan skipper and his deputy needed to make 12 runs. A lofted cover drive by Aravinda got four off the first ball, then the two worked the singles before Aravinda finished things off with a four slammed over the bowler`s head.

Jayasuriya was easily the second best batsman, after D`Silva, in course of the day-night fixture as he smashed 12 sixes and ten fours. Interestingly, he also notched up the highest individual total - 53, with four fours and four sixes - against local favourites Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli in the semifinal.

The Indian skipper and his former schoolmate meanwhile disappointed a 7,000 strong crowd, crashing to defeat by the wide margin of 27 runs.

Another Indian pair - Robin Singh and Javagal Srinath - however faired better in their semifinal against eventual winners Ranatunga and D`Silva, losing by a mere 10 runs. Singh in particular added to his growing fan club with a display of big hitting that saw him hammer seven sixes and five boundaries.

After the fun and frolic on the field came the auction of the 1971 Victory Bat.

Autographed by every member of the Indian squad which, under Ajit Wadekar, had won a Test series for the first time in England in 1971, the bat had been earlier auctioned and, on that occasion, bought by former Test cricketer Vijay Merchant for Rs 50,000.

Merchant then presented the bat to Wadekar, who in turn gifted the bat to his old alma mater, Ruia College, to help with the fund-raising drive.

The bidding was fast and furious, and the winner was Pradeep Patkar, vice president of Walchandnagar Industries, who picked up the souvenir for Rs 310,000.

Source :: Rediff On The NeT (https://www.rediff.co.in)