Pat Cummins was proved right once again ©AFP
Pat Cummins had just finished a 20-minute hit in the nets on Friday (July 1). He'd then come in off a half-run and bowled six deliveries on the same pitch. Around half-hour remained for the start of play on Day 3 in Galle. As he began packing his kit up, the Australian captain was met by the incoming Nathan Lyon. And Cummins stayed back for a minute to give his premier spinner, and fellow overnight batter, a quick report on the surface in the middle.
"I don't think that pitch is going to hold on for too long. It's puffing up at 100 ks an hour," he said, or something to that effect. Lyon though didn't seem to agree completely and if anything underplayed the extreme menace of the 22 yards that had already produced a lot of drama in Galle. Perhaps he hadn't seen the pitch break up to the extent that Cummins had at his end. Perhaps it was Lyon's way of not wanting his bowling to get subconsciously influenced by the potentially diabolical nature of the pitch. It didn't matter.
For, in less than 2.5 hours following this brief chat, it turned out Pat Cummins was right. But Pat Cummins is always right. Even if it means denying himself a bowl for the first time in 42 Tests. Even if it means throwing Travis Head the ball at a time Sri Lanka's final pair of resisters, Dhananjaya de Silva and Dinesh Chandimal, looked to be settling in. Even if it means having a plan and believing in it to beat a team in very alien conditions at their own game.
Like Cummins had predicted, the pitch didn't hold on for too long. But more importantly, neither did the Sri Lankan batting. And it's safe to say that even the prophetic Aussie captain would not have expected the end to come this soon and this quickly. To be completely honest, despite quite a few deliveries performing untoward tricks, the pitch for the first Test in Galle did have a few more runs in it than what Sri Lanka seemed prepared to accept. It was as if they too had heard about Cummins' pitch report in the morning, even if none of them were around then, and bought squarely into it. Perhaps being aware that after all Pat Cummins is always right.
They certainly batted like they had. Rarely have a team of players collectively lost confidence in their defensive technique and completely surrendered to their instincts like Sri Lanka did on what was still the third morning of the Test. If having to contend with Nathan Lyon on a turning track wasn't already a tall order, they magnified their challenge by further playing into his hands. Batter after batter walked out and swept like they were haunted by the prospect of letting one of Lyon's off-breaks get anywhere close to them. This was probably the most extreme case of a team batting in a Test match like they were shooting for an episode of Fear Factor.How else could you explain their frenzied and panicked responses to literally every ball that left either Lyon or Mitchell Swepson's fingers. At times to the bemusement of the Australians on the field, and understandably so. Weren't they supposed to be the outsiders who'd realise the enormity of their possibly dangerous challenge and wither away? Weren't Sri Lanka supposed to be the team who'd intentionally prepared a spin inquisition for the visitors to ensure that they dictate terms on home soil? Ideally yes, but not over the last three days in Galle.
If they blew away a great opportunity to land an early blow by getting bowled out for 212 after winning the toss on Day One, their spinners got completely intimidated by the presence of Cameron Green and the attacking intent of some of the others on Day Two. That it was the youngest member of the Australian batting line-up who gave the Lankans a lesson on how to play in their own conditions, only added to the haplessness and ineptitude of the home team's attitude and approach.
That the final rites of this humiliation were performed by Head with ball in hand, taking 4 wickets in 17 deliveries, was the ultimate insult. Even if a couple of the deliveries he bowled, especially the one to get Chandimal out, were those that would sit proudly in any off-spinner's career highlight reel. Sri Lanka were simply that bad. It needed an embarrassing finish to further accentuate just how bad they were. And perhaps that's why captain Cummins thought it right to bring his part-timer on with the match at a relatively crucial juncture. And it worked on a day we were reminded yet again that Pat Cummins is always right.
© Cricbuzz
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