When Ranatunga inserted England first after winning the toss on a beautiful batting pitch, there were sighs of dismay that he was playing into the opposition's hands. It took even the cricket pundits here by surprise.
On the 11 previous occasions Ranatunga had sent the opposition to bat first, he had been unsuccessful, losing four and drawing seven. When England made their way to 445 well into the second day, it looked obvious that Ranatunga had made a big blunder.
However, the canny captain played his cards close to his chest and it was after England were well and truly beaten on the fifth evening that he came out with the real truth behind his bizzare decision.
``We couldn't reveal our plans initially because the opposition would come to know of it. I have played cricket long enough to know something about wickets,'' said Ranatunga in a post-match interview.
``We didn't want to be in a situation where England might have to follow-on and then (Muthiah) Muralitharan be forced twice to bowl around fifty overs in an innings without a break,'' said Ranatunga.
However, Sanath Jayasuriya's double hundred made the toss almost irrelevant anyway. The speed with which he scored his first hundred 124 balls paved the way for the extraordinary events which followed.
Muralitharan's figures were his best in 42 Tests in which he has now taken 203 wickets.
Had Alec Stewart not been run out, Muralitharan would surely have become only the second bowler in the history of the game to take all ten wickets in a Test innings, the only other being another off-spinner Jim Laker of England (10 for 53 v Australia at Manchester in 1956).
As it is, Muralitharan's 16 for 220 from 113.5 overs is the fifth-best Test analysis recorded, and his nine wickets for 65 in the England second innings, the seventh best analysis in a Test innings. England fast bowler Devon Malcolm was the last to take nine wickets in an innings when he performed it at the same venue (Oval) against South Africa in 1994.
Ranatunga rated Muralitharan as the number one spinner in the world ahead of even the 'great' Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne, who although taking more than 300 Test wickets has yet to take 16 wickets in a Test. Warne's best in a Test is 12 for 128 against South Africa at Sydney in 1993-94.
``Muralitharan is an amazing character. You just give him the ball and he will continue to bowl. He gets a sore shoulder once in a while, but he is tough enough not to worry about such things. He is greedy for wickets. If we get Tests often, Muralitharan will end up as the leading wicket-taker in the game,'' said Ranatunga.
``It is sad that a lot of people don't realise the value of Muralitharan. He doesn't get much sponsorship as some of the lesser bowlers of repute. He gets a small income for displaying a bat sticker, nothing else. He earns more wickets than the money he gets,'' said Ranatunga.
``It's very unfortunate that I have only Muralitharan in my team and that I still win matches. People don't realise that we are not a side with the Goughs, the Ambroses or the Wasim Akrams.'' he said.
Ranatunga admitted that Muralitharan needs a good bowling partner, and hoped that Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa would recover from their injuries quickly to provide him that.
Commenting on the remarks England coach David Lloyd made on Muralitharan, Ranatunga said: ``There is nothing wrong with his action and everybody knows about it. We are not worried what others say about him. We are only concerned about ourselves''.
Ranatunga said that England's negative batting in the second innings contributed towards their downfall.
``They batted very well in the first innings, but in the second, they batted negatively, that is why we had only a few runs to score. We were quite happy when the England batsmen used their pads more often than their bats, because we knew we wouldn't be chasing a big total to win in the second innings,'' he said.
England captain Alec Stewart was gracious in defeat when he said: ``They outplayed us and one bloke bowled magnificently. Our idea was to win three successive Tests, and this defeat has taken a bit of the gloss off things''.
Referring to Muralitharan, Stewart, who plays for Surrey with Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, said: ``This bloke is in a league of his own. He spins it more than any finger spinner I have seen. He can make it drop, bounce, drift it away, and bowl a leg spinner. You must always admire fellow cricketers, and Murali's effort here deserved the praise. He is a bowler of great quality and showed it over five days''.
Murali for Lancs?
Muralitharan is being spoken of in cricket circles here as the likely successor to Wasim Akram as Lancashire's overseas player next season. Akram is in his final year where he will get a benefit and it is unlikely that the county would retain his services further. Lancashire coach Dav Whatmore, said the county were looking for a quality spinner, which was an area they were lacking in the current season. Lancashire are making a huge bid for the county title with Surrey. They are also in the NatWest trophy final. Whatmore, who was at the Oval Test, was Sri Lanka's coach when they won the World Cup two years ago.
Botham to help?
'The London Times' reported today that, former England all-rounder Ian Botham has been approached by Sri Lanka to help them find some new-ball bowlers to support Muralitharan.
Botham who would be required to work for four weeks a year with the bowlers in Sri Lanka, will let them know whether he is willing before the end of the week, the paper said.