Gloom hung about Sri Lankan cricket before this tour. The question was not if they would lose, but by how much. Somehow, in three winding weeks, the dark clouds have come to be banished. Bloomed in their place: unexpected, rapturous joy.No Sri Lankan series is complete without a collapse, of course, but on this occasion, the trough was hit nice and early. It is that glum 117 all out that gives the subsequent triumphs meaning. It is when Graham Ford called Kusal Mendis The Prince, following his 176, that a team-wide scramble for hyperbolic praise really began.In Galle, Australia came upon Sri Lankan crickets more sinister side. They were faced with a pitch that would wear if so much as a shadow fell upon it; a surface so dry it inspired their top order to spectacularly combust. On day two their hopes for the series went up in flames, and by the third afternoon, Sri Lankas spinners had frolicking merrily around the pyre.The home side had three SSC centurions to Australias two. Dhananjaya de Silva made a velvet hundred, after his team had been 26 for 5. Dinesh Chandimal slow-cooked a supporting ton. Kaushal Silva battled pain in his left hand and his own bad form, to set off like a spinning firework upon reaching triple figures, and leave the series with a smirk.But it fit that Sri Lankas slow bowlers defined the final, triumphant day. All through the series they had beaten both edges of the bat. They had Australia lunging at turning balls, and leaving straight ones. They had had batsmen running down the pitch to deliveries they should have played from the crease; having scrambled the oppositions footwork, as well as their minds.In the last innings of the series, theirs was a catalogue of spinners dream dismissals. An aggressive opening batsman was bowled around his legs. Edges were taken by keeper and slip. One batsman was bowled trying to cut. There was a skied slog, a stumping, all adding up to a 9 for 60 slump.Even the pitch-markings appeared to be in thrall of Sri Lankan spin. When Moises Henriques and Josh Hazlewood were deemed out of their ground by a hair, in the second session, close-ups of the popping crease revealed it to be chunkier and wonkier than a crease should generally be. What better way to pay tribute to the thicker-than-average Man of the Series? Just like the champion spinner, these creases had their curves.Angelo Mathews dropped one of the simplest slip chances he is ever likely to get, burned two reviews in successive balls, and made an over-cautious declaration, and yet, the victory almost came too easy. His is one of the zanier captaincy records. Having failed to oversee a single win over a Test-playing nation until the end of June, he has Sri Lankas most famous whitewash on his resume now, to go with the 2014 series win in England.When the SSC dust settles, maybe the narrative that takes grip around the cricket world will fixate on Australias shortcomings with and against spin. Nine Asian failures in a row is difficult to ignore. Their slow bowlers were modest on turning tracks. The top order fell in such heaps, batsmen tripped over each other on their way back to the pavilion.But let not that narrative drown out the triumphant cries of one of crickets quieter voices. Let it not edge out the story of a team that draws on a smaller population than Australia, whose finances are in worse shape New Zealands; a team that still only taps about a third of their island for top-end talent, for reasons involving a finished conflict, and ongoing gross mismanagement. A country which, still, produces batsmen who stroke effortless sixes to begin promising Test careers; which unveils mystery spinners who turn their first games; whose youngest guns second first-class hundred is one of the great Test innings; and a team, whose heart-and-soul is a 38-year-old with grey-flecked hair, and maybe crickets gentlest spirit.When they play like they have this series, Sri Lanka are the shock of lime in crickets sambol. They are the cashew in its dodol, and the murunga leaf in its odiyal kool.Cricket would still go on without Sri Lanka, but would it be anywhere near as good? Cheap Under Armour Authentic . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. Under Armour Shoes From China . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.clearanceunderarmour.com/ . 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BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil -- Hope Solo wasnt bothered by the chanting.The veteran USA goalie was teased by fans chanting Zika, Zika at her as the U.S. womens soccer team defeated New Zealand in its Olympic debut on Wednesday.The crowd of nearly 10,000 fans at the 60,000-capacity Mineirao Stadium jeered the goalkeeper with references to the virus that has scared many athletes ahead of the Rio Games.Im glad the fans had fun, Solo said. And if they had fun at my expense, more power to them.Solo upset some Brazilians before coming to the Olympics by tweeting a photo of herself wearing a hat with mosquito netting. She also posted a photo of dozens of packs of mosquito repellent that she was packing for her trip to Brazil.She made amends a few days before the games, blaming the American media for spreading fear about Zika and other problems ahead of the Rio Games. She said the media was being really tough on people of Brazil.ddddddddddddThe veteran goalkeeper said she didnt realize during the game that the fans were chanting Zika, and thought they were only yelling a common slur that local clubs sometimes use against goalkeepers at goal kicks.Some of the fans were indeed yelling the slur early in the game, but later the majority of the crowd started with the Zika chant, which was also repeated after the final whistle.Thats something hopefully they will put behind them and realize that Hope has apologized to the Brazilian people, U.S. coach Jill Ellis said of the fans. Sometimes mistakes are made. We are used to getting booed in other countries, so that part of it is not foreign. I hope the Brazilian people appreciate what we are trying to do with the ball and move past that. ' ' '