On this day: Arjuna Ranatunga finishes his incredible career
Arjuna Ranatunga, till date, remains the only Sri Lankan captain to win an ODI World Cup. He guided his side to a triumph as they won the 1996 edition despite being underdogs. Ranatunga played a key role in Sri Lankan cricket’s rise not only as a captain but also as a batsman. Making his International debut in 1982, Ranatunga excelled in both ODI and Test formats for the Lankans.
Ranatunga was a part of Sri Lanka’s maiden Test match against England at the Colombo’s P. Sara Oval in 1982. He scored a fifty in the first innings of the match but the visitors won the match by seven wickets. Ranatunga went on to feature in country’s 100th Test match as well at the Colombo’s SSC Ground in 2000. Playing against Pakistan, Arjuna made only 13 runs across two innings as the host lost by a five-wicket margin.
Playing in country’s 1st and 100th Test!
Arjuna Ranatunga thus holds a unique record for being the only player to feature in the maiden Test and also the 100th Test of a team. Sri Lanka played their 100th Test in the home series against Pakistan. At the end of the series, Ranatunga announced that he will retire from the game after the home season. He was removed from captaincy following a debacle in the 1999 World Cup. After the tournament, he didn’t get a chance to play an ODI match but played Test cricket for a year.
The farewell
Sri Lanka were scheduled to play South Africa in a three-match Test series across July and August. The Lankans were quite dominant over the visitors as they won the first Test by an innings and 15 runs. During the second Test in Kandy, the Lankans were pushed to 21/4 while chasing a target of 177. But Ranatunga came to the rescue of his team scoring a quick 88 from only 103 balls as he struck 15 fours. He was the seventh wicket to fall in the Sri Lankan chase when they were needing 16 runs more to win.
Unfortunately, Sri Lanka ended up losing the match by seven runs as they added only eight runs for three wickets after Arjuna’s dismissal. The series decider in Colombo’s SSC ground was marred by rain intervals. The match came down to the final day where the Proteas set a target of 263 runs for the hosts in two sessions. The South African pacers pushed the Lankans to 37/3 as the home team aimed for a draw with their skipper Sanath Jayasuriya back in the hut.
Mahela Jayawardene and Aravinda de Silva (41) batted out 31.1 overs adding 82 runs to rescue the home team. Later, Ranatunga walked to bat for one last time in Test cricket and scored an unbeaten 28. He along with Mahela added 76 runs in only 98 balls before the match ended in a draw. Jayawardene finished with an unbeaten 101 but wasn’t enough to seal a series victory for Sri Lanka.
