Sri Lankan novelty lights up T20

After Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene had reversed-swept him off the back of the bat during their World Twenty20 Super Eights win over New Zealand at Trent Bridge on Tuesday, Jacob Oram smiled. The all-rounder's expression, a mixture of bewilderment and admiration, neatly summed up the reaction of many people watching the match and was just the latest example of Sri Lanka's enduring penchant for cricket unorthodoxy. Jaywardene's team-mate Tillekaratne Dilshan has wowed crowds at the tournament with the 'Dillscoop', an extraordinary shot where he goes down on one knee as if to sweep only to lever the ball past the wicket-keeper's head. But there is nothing new about Sri Lanka changing the way cricket is played. It is now more than a decade since opener Sanath Jayasuriya revolutionised the approach to batting at the start of the one-day innings by lofting the ball over the infield and even carving the ball for sixes square of the wicket on the offside. Jayasuriya's dynamism helped Sri Lanka win the 1996 World Cup and was an example of how the island's players were allowed to remain true to their natural style.
The most obvious example is in the array of unorthodox bowlers who've taken the field for Sri Lanka be they prodigious off-break star Muttiah Muralitharan, mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis and round-arm pace bowler Lasith Malinga. But thought, as well as talent, plays a part.

Jayawardene, best known as a classically elegant batsman, was not the first man to reverse sweep a bowler off the back of the bat. Australia's Andrew Symonds has been seen playing the shot but, according to Jayawardene, it was one of the all-rounder's compatriots, the former Test opener John Dyson, now the coach of the West Indies, who ought to be credited with the creation of the stroke. "This is something I've worked with (Sri Lanka coach) Trevor Bayliss on. "He was saying that Dyson used to do that in Australia. He used to tap it with the other side because he couldn't sweep. "A lot of teams bring third man up these days and I thought I'll give it a go.

Hopefully it will keep working. But there is another Sri Lankan who, in his own quiet way, has also helped the side into a World Twenty20 semi-finals against the West Indies at the Oval on Friday. Pace bowler Isuru Udana, who took two for 17 on Tusday, has outbowled the quicker and more highly regarded Nuwan Kulasekara at this tournament by deceiving several batsmen with the slow pace of his deliveries. Some observers have asked why he needs such a lengthy run given the speed the ball arrives at the other end but, intentional or not, the effect has been to cause confusion. Oram was one such example, clean bowled by Udana after getting through his shot so early his bottom hand had come off the bat as the ball crashed into his stumps on Tuesday. He for one might be glad of a break from facing Sri Lanka.