Not many of the 26,000 at the SCG knew Lahiru Thirimanne upon his arrival at the crease, yet they rose to give him a warm ovation when he departed short of the three-figure score

Andrew Fernando at the SCG03-Jan-2013From all the innings, shots, wickets and catches Mahela Jayawardene oversawas captain of Sri Lanka in 2012, his favourite moment was an instance ofexceptional gall from Lahiru Thirimanne. Sri Lanka were five runs short of victory in Pallekele in their first Super Eights match of the World Twenty20, but they only had two balls remaining, with Tim Southee at thebowling crease, delivering one of the spells of the tournament. Thirimanne,fresh from the dugout, had not managed a convincing stroke from either ofthe balls he had faced, yet on the penultimate delivery of Sri Lanka’sinnings, he knelt and played a scoop he had never tried before ininternational cricket, sending Southee’s yorker over short fine leg forfour, and the stadium into raptures.”For Lahiru to have the courage to do that and back himself was fantastic,”Jayawardene said months later, while reflecting on the year’s events. “Ithink among the young group, he has that mindset to handle those reallytough situations.” Courage, self-belief, fortitude. They are the samevirtues that fashioned Thirimanne’s 91 in Sydney, and provided the backboneof Sri Lanka’s first innings after the team had shown little of the abovewith the bat in their last Test.Not many of the 26,000 at the SCG knew Thirimanne upon his arrival at thecrease, and until five days before the match, he had no idea he would beplaying a New Year Test either. Yet, when he departed short of thethree-figure score he deserved, the stadium rose to give him a warmovation. They only need to think back to last year’s Test to recall knocksthat dwarf Thirimanne’s 91 in heft, skill and allure, but there was much toenjoy about the steel in his defense and the defiance in his strokes, andthey did not withhold their appreciation. Perhaps the crowd had also heardon their earpiece radios by then, that Thirimanne had stepped off a planeonly 36 hours before his innings began.If Thirimanne was not nervous when he arrived at the crease, the lbw shoutand referral off his first ball certainly would have put him on edge. “Ithought that was out,” he said at the end of the day, but he did not allowthat rattling introduction detract from focus or technique. He leftpositively and even early in his innings, his scoring strokes were assured.As he grew more accustomed to the pace of the pitch, he drove the quicks onthe front foot with the same comfort with which he dispatched Nathan Lyonthrough the offside, leaning back. Australia cannot have had long toanalyse footage of Thirimanne to deduct a plan of attack, but if there areglaring vulnerabilities in his game, he did well to hide them. Few SriLankan batsmen graduate from the domestic system without a major weaknessthat must be ironed out at the top level.Thirimanne had replaced Kumar Sangakkara, and the bent-knee cover drive he wielded with increasing command throughout the day bore strong parallels to Sangakkara’s signature stroke, only it was less clean. Like Thirimanne, Sangakkara had a limited range of strokes once, but a strong mind andtireless work ethic transformed him into one of the greats of the moderngame. It is encouraging that Thirimanne already seems to possess an irontemperament, but he would do well to emulate the hunger and commitmentSangakkara has ridden to acclaim, if he is to make good on the potentialhis innings made plain.Before receiving the call from Sri Lanka’s selectors, Thirimanne’s lastmatch was at the Nondescripts Cricket Club in Colombo, where even the likesof Mitchell Johnson might find getting the ball above chest height afruitless pursuit. The SCG may be the least daunting Australian venue forSri Lanka, but the bounce and carry in the pitch on day one is a worldremoved from the featherbed on which he scratched out a limited overshalf-century a week ago, and he has had just one training session toadjust to batting in conditions that have not flattered his teammates inthe first two Tests. Uncluttered by the baggage of the Melbourne massacreperhaps, Thirimanne relied on resilience to compensate for unfamiliarity.”It was a bit difficult to adjust, but it’s all about mindset,” he said.”You have to adapt to any conditions quickly if you want to playinternational cricket. Whether we are playing ODIs or Test we have to getour mindset right. I adapted really well today. I am disappointed to havemissed a hundred, but I’m happy with my performance.”Just as Rangana Herath has shown Sri Lanka there is life after MuttiahMuralitharan, there are signs from the likes of Thirimanne and DineshChandimal that Sri Lanka can be hopeful about their batting beyond thecareers of the four ageing men who have begun winding down their careers.On day one in Sydney, a 23-year-old propelled Sri Lanka towardsrespectability with spunk and composure. The visitors may still be placedpoorly in the match, with a second-string pace attack now tasked withreining Australia in, but fans at home will take even more pleasure inThirimanne’s innings than the SCG crowd that witnessed it, becausesuddenly, the future does not look so bleak.