Early in the World Cup match between Australia and Sri Lanka at Kennington Oval on 11th June 1975, a ‘troop’ of Sri Lankan Tamil men stormed on to the field to demonstrate their hostility to the political situation in Sri Lanka. This act is said to have been organised by Left-oriented activists associated with the EROS. Violene was not intended and this was apparently self-evident to all the cricketing men on the field. As Anura Tennakoon (captain) told me, they were not perturbed. for the most part, the Australian bowling was not all that bothersome either — BUT there was a speed merchant called Jeff thomson whose slinging paceeventually hospitalised tow well-set batsmen. K.O.victory
LRD Mendis retired hurt at 150/2
SRD Wettimuny retired hurt at 164/2
ADDENDUM I: An Email Note from Gerald H. Peiris: “I watched the broadcast of this match at Peter Ranasinghe’s home in Perth. Sri Lanka was well on the way to a sensational victory when Thomson struck. He was thoroughly condemned by the Australian press, the following day.”
ADDENDUM II, from Editor Thuppahi: “If tales lodged in memory are valid, Thomson threw the stumps down as Duleep Mendis lay twitching out of the crease. The English umpires, quite sensibly, refused to rule Mendis out ….. But he was effectively out of action (hospitalized too).”
Prudential World Cup, 7th Match: Australia v Sri Lanka at The Oval, Jun 11, 1975
| Australia innings (60 overs maximum) | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RB McCosker | b de Silva | 73 | 111 | 2 | 0 | 65.76 | |
| A Turner | c Mendis b de Silva | 101 | 113 | 9 | 1 | 89.38 | |
| IM Chappell* | b Kaluperuma | 4 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 57.14 | |
| GS Chappell | c Opatha b Pieris | 50 | 50 | 5 | 1 | 100.00 | |
| KD Walters | c Tennekoon b Pieris | 59 | 66 | 5 | 0 | 89.39 | |
| JR Thomson | not out | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 128.57 | |
| RW Marsh† | not out | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 128.57 | |
| Extras | (b 1, lb 20, w 1, nb 1) | 23 | |||||
| Total | (5 wickets; 60 overs) | 328 | (5.46 runs per over) | ||||
Did not batR Edwards, MHN Walker, DK Lillee, AA Mallett
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARM Opatha | 9 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 3.55 | |
| HSM Pieris | 11 | 0 | 68 | 2 | 6.18 | |
| B Warnapura | 9 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 4.44 | |
| AN Ranasinghe | 7 | 0 | 55 | 0 | 7.85 | |
| DS de Silva | 12 | 3 | 60 | 2 | 5.00 | |
| LWS Kaluperuma | 12 | 0 | 50 | 1 | 4.16 |
| Sri Lanka innings (target: 329 runs from 60 overs) | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SRD Wettimuny | retired hurt | 53 | 102 | 7 | 0 | 51.96 | |
| ER Fernando† | b Thomson | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 122.22 | |
| B Warnapura | st †Marsh b Mallett | 31 | 39 | 5 | 0 | 79.48 | |
| LRD Mendis | retired hurt | 32 | 45 | 5 | 0 | 71.11 | |
| APB Tennekoon* | b IM Chappell | 48 | 71 | 6 | 0 | 67.60 | |
| MH Tissera | c Turner b IM Chappell | 52 | 72 | 7 | 0 | 72.22 | |
| AN Ranasinghe | not out | 14 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 77.77 | |
| HSM Pieris | not out | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |
| Extras | (b 6, lb 8, w 8, nb 2) | 24 | |||||
| Total | (4 wickets; 60 overs) | 276 | (4.60 runs per over) | ||||
Did not batARM Opatha, DS de Silva, LWS Kaluperuma
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DK Lillee | 10 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 4.20 | |
| JR Thomson | 12 | 5 | 22 | 1 | 1.83 | |
| AA Mallett | 12 | 0 | 72 | 1 | 6.00 | |
| KD Walters | 6 | 1 | 33 | 0 | 5.50 | |
| MHN Walker | 12 | 1 | 44 | 0 | 3.66 | |
| GS Chappell | 4 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 6.25 | |
| IM Chappell | 4 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 3.50 |
Match details
Player of the match – A Turner (Australia)
Sunil in full flow before Jeff Thomson ‘disposed’ of him
LISTEN to the Commentary = http://web.cricbuzz.com/cricket-scores/7913/australia-v-sri-lanka-11-jun-1975
Pingback: Sri Lanka vs Australia, Kenington Oval, June 1975 | Critiquing Cricket