Sports is replete with examples of leadership- good and poor. Mahela Jayawardene demonstrated exemplary leadership in the recent semi-final against New Zealand in the on-going World Cup.
Here was one who led from the front. A role model. He came in when New Zealand seemed to have grabbed the upper hand. Ace batsmen Jayasuriya and Sangakkara were out relatively cheaply. Sri Lanka was 67/2 and 22 year old Uppal Tharanga was shaky at first.
Jayawardene’s batting performance- one of the best in World Cup cricket- was a stellar example of how to build an innings. His first 17 runs were scored in 47 balls with 31 dot balls. We wondered whether he too would flounder. However, he soon changed gears. The next 23 came of 23 balls and the innings stabilised. Then came the assault. The last 75 came in 39 balls. Sri Lanka scored 102 in the last 10 overs, of which Jayawardene’s contribution was 69 off 35 balls.
At the end, his unbeaten 115 had come off 109 balls. A match winning innings which helped his team beat New Zealand by 81 runs to enter the finals. A captain’s knock.
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