Angelo Mathews: Captain Fantastic

Angelo Mathews

Having never won a Test series in England, Sri Lanka, all of a sudden, find themselves on the brink of a historic Test series victory, thanks to their captain Angelo Mathews, who, in the process of guiding Sri Lanka to a secure position on day 4 of the 2nd Test at Headingley, Leeds, has become the first captain in Test cricket history to score 300+runs and pick up 4 or more wickets in a two-match series.

There have been some concerns that, post the retirements of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene from Test cricket, there would not be enough quality among the young Sri Lankan batsmen to have sustained success in Test cricket, but Mathews has emphatically allayed those concerns with a majestic display of Test match batting in the series.

Just to give some perspective on Mathews’ knock, at the start of the 4th day’s play of the 2nd Test, the match situation was extremely grim for Sri Lanka, with an England victory being a matter of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’. But Mathews has turned the tables almost single-handedly, with an England victory, going into day 5, being a virtual impossibility.

Mathews’ growth as a Test batsman, in the last few months, has been remarkable. He has always been a talented cricketer, which is why the Sri Lankan selectors showed faith by promoting him to the captaincy when he was still finding out about his game at the international level. But I don’t think even his staunchest fan could’ve envisaged Mathews possessing the ability that he’s displayed on this England tour.

In the 1st Test at Lord’s, he made a composed century, before battling his way through in the 2nd innings for a knock of 18 runs from 90 balls, thereby helping his team save the match. His best was yet to come, though. In the 2nd Test, he has taken his game to another level altogether, with, what surely must be, a match-winning knock of 160 runs from just 249 balls.

The most impressive aspect of his knock yesterday was his farming of the strike while batting with the tail and, in the process, almost humiliating the England captain Alastair Cook. When Cook set his fielders back at the start of every over, with the intention of bowling to the other batsmen, Mathews blocked the first four balls, before nonchalantly picking a single of one of the last 2 balls, thereby shielding the lesser able batsmen from the bulk of the bowling. He did this almost time and again with great effect, almost as if he knew where the bowlers would bowl even before the bowlers had decided themselves. Of the 348 balls that England delivered on day 4 while Mathews was at the crease, he went on to face 201, suggesting that not only was his thinking spot-on but his execution just about flawless.

If the Sri Lankan bowlers take the remaining 5 wickets in the England 2nd innings and secure a 1-0 Test series win in England, he certainly won’t forget his masterful knock for a long time to come. We certainly won’t.