On this day: Courtney Walsh’s incredible spell crushes Sri Lanka
When Courtney Walsh made his international debut in 1984, the Windies boasted the likes of Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner, and Curtly Ambrose. As Garner and Marshall left the scene, Walsh paired himself with Ambrose in the era of the 90s and formed the most deadly duo of all time. His rhythmic run-up and bowling action led him to swing the ball both ways.
Just a couple of years post debut i.e. 34 years ago, Walsh recorded the cheapest five-wicket haul in the history of international cricket as he choked Sri Lanka by his fierce pace. It was the 5th match between a daunting Caribbean side and the island nation in the 1986-edition of the Champions Trophy. Having won the toss, Sri Lanka elected to field first.
West Indies start strong
Adding a massive 132 runs for the first wicket, Gordon Greenidge played the anchor to Richie Richardson, who continued in his ruthless style from one end. Coming in at No. 3, Sir Vivian Richards added a quick-fire 39 runs from 42 deliveries. Richie Richardson, who had slammed a century by then, fell for 109 immediately after Viv Richards’ wicket as Ratnayake struck in quick succession. Soon West Indies finished with 248 for 5 after 45 overs.
Coming to the chase, Sri Lanka were rattled straight up as opener Brendon Kuruppu ran himself out for just 9, whereas Malcolm Marshall got Roshan Mahanama caught behind by wicket-keeper Jeff Dujon when the batsman had just got his eyes in.
At 22 for 2, the two new men – Asanka Gurusinha and Arjun Ranatunga – walked in to steady the ship for their team. However, that was not to be. Roger Harper dismissed both the batsmen in quick succession. Reduced to 45 for 4 after Ranatunga’s dismissal, who struggled his way to 8 runs after playing 31 balls, the new man Aravinda de Silva was run out for just 3 runs.
Magic of Walsh
Sri Lanka had a mountain to chase, and with half of their team back in the pavilion with 50 runs on the board, the opponents started to smell victory already. That is when the searing Cortney Walsh bagged the first of his 5 wickets as he dismissed skipper Duleep Mendis getting him caught behind. Hasan Tillakratne, from one end, went into a shell, whereas the remaining wickets kept tumbling around him.
Walsh was on fire as he knocked over Ashantha de Mel, and both Ratnayakes – Ravi and Rumesh, for 2, 4, and 4-ball ducks respectively. Sri Lanka was in tatters and in no time the score of 45/3 further deteriorated to 51/9. Graeme Labrooy did better than others in the tail but even he could last only 8 balls for his solitary run before Walsh undid him to finish with his mind-boggling figures of 4.3-3-1-5. Courtesy of his incredible 4.3 over spell, West Indies wrapped up Sri Lanka for their second-lowest score in ODIs (55) and registered a gigantic victory by 193 runs.
