Batting great Arjuna Ranatunga may be synonymous with Sri Lanka’s 1996 Cricket World Cup triumph over Australia at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan.
But it was four years ago in 1992, exactly 29 years from now, on February 23 that this stocky left-hander gave a glimpse of his potential with a brilliant batting performance against Zimbabwe.
Sri Lanka were heading for a humiliating World Cup defeat in their opening match of the tournament against the minnows as Zimbabwe rattled a massive 312 for four wickets in 50 overs at New Plymouth, New Zealand.
In fact, Zimbabwe always had this habit of creating upsets and producing surprises against some of the more fancied opponents in every World Cup they had participated.
In 1983, they edged out Australia by 13 runs and in the next World Cup they almost had the better of New Zealand.
Another major upset was on the cards in 1992 against Sri Lanka as Man-of-the-Match and opening batsman Andy Flower struck an unbeaten 115 on his debut with the help of one six and eight boundaries.
Andy Waller batting at number six then hammered the Sri Lankan bowling to all parts of the ground with a swashbuckling 83 not out from 45 deliveries.
His unbroken partnership with Flower was worth 145 runs as Zimbabwe set Sri Lanka a daunting task of scoring over 300 runs in the second innings of a match for the first time in the history.
No doubt, in the modern era, scoring over 300 runs in a One Day International (ODI) may be a common scenario but down the lane, 29 years ago it was a tough ask for any top team.
The openers Athula Samarasekera and Roshan Mahanama took the Lankans off to a flying start while putting on 128 runs with both completing half centuries.
However, Sri Lanka lost the key wickets of Skipper Aravinda de Silva and Asanka Gurusinha cheaply and their chances of winning looked almost bleak when they collapsed to 212 for five wickets by the 39th over.
But the situation was tailor-made for Ranatunga who scored more than a run-a-ball to remain unbeaten on 88 inclusive of one six and nine boundaries.
The feature of his batting was the manner in which he handled the pressure situation and was not prepared to throw his wicket away despite the asking-rate had climbed to nearly 10 runs per over.
The elegant left-hander gave a classic example of playing under pressure as he found the gaps beautifully and hit the boundaries regularly without ever resorting to slogging.
The other significant fact was how he shielded the lower batting order and fittingly, Ranatunga hit the winning runs with four balls to spare in an amazing game that produced the second-highest ODI match aggregate at that time.
(C.D)
