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Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Monday, April 7, 2014
Simon Hughes: Sri Lanka is modern master of white ball cricket
Sri Lanka has now lost only one match in its last 16 ODIs and T20s.
Smart bowling put brakes on India's batting, experience of Jayawardena and Sangakkara sealed the title
In their last T20 match for Sri Lanka, the prolific duo of
Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena secured their nation its
first-ever ICC World T20 title over a dejected India. But it was Sri
Lanka’s bowlers who were the architects of the victory.
It is often assumed that T20 is a batsman’s game. But Nuwan Kulasekara and Lasith Malinga proved how influential, shrewd and precise bowling can be, allowing India just 15 runs from the last three overs. First Yuvraj Singh, then MS Dhoni were unable to get the ball away, crucially denying Virat Kohli the strike and ensuring that India’s final total of 130 was 30 runs too light.
India fought hard with the ball, and took wickets regularly, but without a substantial target to defend, it could never afford a big over, and that came when Thisara Perera and Sangakarra pummelled Amit Mishra’s over, the 15th for 14. Despite being the star of earlier matches, Mishra’s nerve failed him in the final and his line wavered and his pace erred too much on the fast side. His four overs went for 32 runs. Sangakkara finished 52 not out as he was mobbed by ecstatic teammates. For a man who has given so much to his country, it was the least he deserved.
India could only look on and ponder on what might have been. Their innings began cautiously with just three boundaries in the powerplay. Virat Kohli tried to take the initiative and when he miscued to mid-wicket and was missed by Malinga there were suggestions that the Sri Lanka captain might have dropped the trophy. Kohli made them pay with some classic shots, the pulled drive over long-on, the majestic shots through and over cover, making light of the loss of Rohit and Rahane.
But Yuvraj Singh was struggling at the other end, with just 11 runs off 20 balls, unable even to give the strike to the increasingly impatient Kohli. The crucial over was the 18th, bowled by Malinga, after the off-spinner Senanyake, the most economical bowler in the tournament with his clever variations conceding just 5.2 an over, bowled his final over (the 17th) for just four runs.
Bowling wide and very full, Malinga stopped Yuvraj from hitting to the leg-side, or getting the ball away at all, and Kulasekera did the same bowling wide and full to Kohli in the 19th. When Yuvraj could only miscue a full toss to long-off, departing for 11 off 30 balls (strike rate 57), Dhoni sent himself in, but a brilliant final over from Malinga – getting the ball regularly under his bat outside off-stump, denied him having any impact. The last over went for just seven, and Dhoni, the great finisher managed only four singles from 10 balls.
Kohli had faced just eight balls (from which he made seven runs) in the last four overs. Malinga’s figures of 4-0-27-0 gave little clue to his match-winning influence.
It took the pressure off Sri Lanka’s batsmen, meaning their great runmakers Sangakkara and Jayawardena could bide their time and play the ball on its merits and see their side home, aided by the big-hitting Thisara Perera with more than two overs to spare. So the country with 1/60th of the population of their powerful opponents finally overcame them in a world final.
Sri Lanka is the original giant killer. It has now lost only one match in its last 16 ODIs and T20s (to England). It is the modern master of white ball cricket.
It is often assumed that T20 is a batsman’s game. But Nuwan Kulasekara and Lasith Malinga proved how influential, shrewd and precise bowling can be, allowing India just 15 runs from the last three overs. First Yuvraj Singh, then MS Dhoni were unable to get the ball away, crucially denying Virat Kohli the strike and ensuring that India’s final total of 130 was 30 runs too light.
India fought hard with the ball, and took wickets regularly, but without a substantial target to defend, it could never afford a big over, and that came when Thisara Perera and Sangakarra pummelled Amit Mishra’s over, the 15th for 14. Despite being the star of earlier matches, Mishra’s nerve failed him in the final and his line wavered and his pace erred too much on the fast side. His four overs went for 32 runs. Sangakkara finished 52 not out as he was mobbed by ecstatic teammates. For a man who has given so much to his country, it was the least he deserved.
India could only look on and ponder on what might have been. Their innings began cautiously with just three boundaries in the powerplay. Virat Kohli tried to take the initiative and when he miscued to mid-wicket and was missed by Malinga there were suggestions that the Sri Lanka captain might have dropped the trophy. Kohli made them pay with some classic shots, the pulled drive over long-on, the majestic shots through and over cover, making light of the loss of Rohit and Rahane.
But Yuvraj Singh was struggling at the other end, with just 11 runs off 20 balls, unable even to give the strike to the increasingly impatient Kohli. The crucial over was the 18th, bowled by Malinga, after the off-spinner Senanyake, the most economical bowler in the tournament with his clever variations conceding just 5.2 an over, bowled his final over (the 17th) for just four runs.
Bowling wide and very full, Malinga stopped Yuvraj from hitting to the leg-side, or getting the ball away at all, and Kulasekera did the same bowling wide and full to Kohli in the 19th. When Yuvraj could only miscue a full toss to long-off, departing for 11 off 30 balls (strike rate 57), Dhoni sent himself in, but a brilliant final over from Malinga – getting the ball regularly under his bat outside off-stump, denied him having any impact. The last over went for just seven, and Dhoni, the great finisher managed only four singles from 10 balls.
Kohli had faced just eight balls (from which he made seven runs) in the last four overs. Malinga’s figures of 4-0-27-0 gave little clue to his match-winning influence.
It took the pressure off Sri Lanka’s batsmen, meaning their great runmakers Sangakkara and Jayawardena could bide their time and play the ball on its merits and see their side home, aided by the big-hitting Thisara Perera with more than two overs to spare. So the country with 1/60th of the population of their powerful opponents finally overcame them in a world final.
Sri Lanka is the original giant killer. It has now lost only one match in its last 16 ODIs and T20s (to England). It is the modern master of white ball cricket.
2014 T20 Final (Sri Lanka vs India Sri Lanka won by 6 wickets)
| India Innings (Run Rate: 6.50) | Runs | Balls | SR | 4s | 6s | ||
| Rohit Sharma | c Sachithra Senanayake b Rangana Herath | 29 | 26 | 111.53 | 3 | 0 | |
| Ajinkya Rahane | b Angelo Mathews | 3 | 8 | 37.50 | 0 | 0 | |
| Virat Kohli | run out (Sachithra Senanayake) | 77 | 58 | 132.75 | 5 | 4 | |
| Yuvraj Singh | c Thisara Perera b Nuwan Kulasekara | 11 | 21 | 52.38 | 0 | 0 | |
| MS Dhoni | NOT OUT | 4 | 7 | 57.14 | 0 | 0 | |
| Extras | (w 2, b 2, lb 2) | 6 | |||||
| Total | (4 wickets; 20 overs) | 130 | |||||
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Bowler O M R W Econ Dots Nuwan Kulasekara 4 0 29 1 7.25 9 Angelo Mathews 4 0 25 1 6.25 8 Sachithra Senanayake 4 0 22 0 5.50 11 Lasith Malinga 4 0 27 0 6.75 5 Rangana Herath 4 0 23 1 5.75 11 -
Fall of Wickets 1-4 (Rahane, 1.3 ov) 2-64 (Sharma, 10.3 ov) 3-119 (Singh, 18.1 ov) 4-130 (Kohli, 19.6 ov)
| Sri Lanka Innings (Run Rate: 7.51) | Runs | Balls | SR | 4s | 6s | ||
| Kusal Perera | c Ravindra Jadeja b Mohit Sharma | 5 | 7 | 71.42 | 1 | 0 | |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan | c Virat Kohli b Ravichandran Ashwin | 18 | 16 | 112.50 | 4 | 0 | |
| Mahela Jayawardene | c Ravichandran Ashwin b Suresh Raina | 24 | 24 | 100.00 | 4 | 0 | |
| Kumar Sangakkara | NOT OUT | 52 | 35 | 148.57 | 6 | 1 | |
| Lahiru Thirimanne | c MS Dhoni b Amit Mishra | 7 | 11 | 63.63 | 1 | 0 | |
| Thisara Perera | NOT OUT | 23 | 14 | 164.28 | 0 | 3 | |
| Extras | (w 3, lb 2) | 5 | |||||
| Total | (4 wickets; 17.5 overs) | 134 | |||||
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Bowler O M R W Econ Dots Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3 0 18 0 6.00 11 Mohit Sharma 2 0 18 1 9.00 4 Ravichandran Ashwin 3.5 0 29 1 7.56 12 Amit Mishra 4 0 32 1 8.00 10 Suresh Raina 4 0 24 1 6.00 9 Ravindra Jadeja 1 0 11 0 11.00 3 -
Fall of Wickets 1-5 (Perera, 1.1 ov) 2-41 (Dilshan, 5.5 ov) 3-65 (Jayawardene, 9.5 ov) 4-78 (Thirimanne, 12.3 ov)
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Sri Lanka beats England to qualify for ICC U19 CWC quarter-final
Opener Samarawickrama stars for Sri Lanka; Valli’s all-round performance takes South Africa into last eight; Chanderpaul shines for the West Indies; O’Donnell’s unbeaten 107 inspires New Zealand
In Group D, Sri Lanka beat England by one wicket at Dubai International Cricket Stadium
England 230-9, 50 overs (Jonathan Tattersall 95, Will Rhodes 38, Harry Finch 24; Anuk Fernando 3-49, Harsha Rajapaksha 2-35, Binura Fernando 2-61)
Sri Lanka 231-9, 48.5 overs (Sadeera Samarawickrama 82, Thilaksha Sumanasiri 43, Priyamal Perera 22, AK Tyronne 20; Rob Sayer 2-33, Josh Shaw 2-38, Will Rhodes 2-45)
Man of the match - Sadeera Samarawickrama (Sri Lanka)
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Series win will put Pakistan ahead of South Africa India assured of number-one position on the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings
India face Australia in a 5-match ODI series with the chance of losing out on their No.1 ranking in ODIs.
Pakistan has an opportunity to gain a place on the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings if it wins its upcoming series against South Africa by 3-2 or better. The five-ODI series will begin in Sharjah on Wednesday 30 October.
Pakistan is currently sitting in sixth position, four ratings points behind South Africa. However, if Pakistan wins the series 3-2, the two sides will swap places, with the Asian side moving into fifth position on 103 ratings points and the Proteas dropping to sixth spot on 102 ratings points.
Conversely, South Africa will move to 107 ratings points if it wins the series 4-1 and will narrow the gap with England and Sri Lanka to just four ratings points. That gap will be trimmed to just one rating point if South Africa sweeps the series.
Bangladesh v New Zealand
New Zealand finds itself in a must-win situation in its three-match series against host Bangladesh that starts in Dhaka on Tuesday.
New Zealand is in seventh position on 89 ratings points while Bangladesh is ranked ninth on 76 ratings points.
If Bangladesh wins the series, it will move to 79 ratings points while New Zealand will slip behind the West Indies into eighth, on 87 ratings. However, if New Zealand wins the series, then it will gain two ratings points and rise to 91 ratings points, while Bangladesh will drop to 75 ratings points after conceding one rating point.
India v Australia
World champion India has been guaranteed the number-one spot after the last two ODIs in the seven-match series against Australia were washed-out. Australia leads the series 2-1 with the final two matches to be played in Nagpur and Bengaluru on Wednesday and Saturday, respectively.
Australia had entered the series needing to win 6-1 or better to reclaim the number-one spot, which it last held in July 2012.
If Australia manages to win the final two ODIs, it will rise to 119 ratings points while India will finish on 120 ratings points. In sharp contrast, if India wins both matches, it will finish on 123 ratings points while Australia will slide to 114 ratings points – only three ahead of England and Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, the upcoming ODI series against Pakistan offers South Africa captain AB de Villiers an opportunity to overtake Hashim Amla at the top of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen, thereby regaining the number-one rank.
De Villiers was last ranked number-one in July 2013, and recently overtook Amla for the top spot of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen.
Virat Kohli in fourth, MS Dhoni in seventh and Misbah-ul-Haq in eighth are the others inside the top 10 of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen likely to be in action in the upcoming ODIs.
Umar Akmal and Suresh Raina in joint 16th, along with Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan in 19th, are also likely to feature in the upcoming ODIs.
Meanwhile, India spinner Ravindra Jadeja will strive to gain sole ownership of the number-one rank on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers. Jadeja shares the position with West Indies’ Sunil Narine, and has the opportunity to claim the number-one position outright for the first time in his career.
Saeed Ajmal in third, Clint McKay in seventh, Mitchell Johnson in eighth, Lonwabo Tsotsobe in ninth and Mohammed Hafeez in tenth are some of the others inside the top 10 of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers eyeing an upward move.
Abdur Razzak in 11th, Kyle Mills in 12th, Morne Morkel in 13th, Dale Steyn in 15th, along with Ravichandran Ashwin in 18th, Shakib and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar in joint 20th are the other bowlers inside the top 20 of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers who will be seen in action.
Upcoming Fixtures
Bangladesh v New Zealand
29 Oct – 1st ODI, Dhaka (d/n)
31 Oct – 2nd ODI, Dhaka (d/n)
3 Nov – 3rd ODI, Fatullah
India v Australia
30 Oct - 6th ODI, Nagpur (d/n)
2 Nov- 7th ODI, Bengaluru (d/n)
Pakistan v South Africa
30 Oct – 1st ODI, Sharjah (d/n)
1 Nov – 2nd ODI, Dubai (d/n)
6 Nov – 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi (d/n)
8 Nov – 4th ODI, Abu Dhabi (d/n)
11 Nov – 5th ODI, Sharjah (d/n)
Reliance ICC ODI Rankings (as on 28 October, after the fourth India-Australia ODI and before Bangladesh-New Zealand and Pakistan-South Africa ODI Series)
| Rank | Team | Rating | (+/-) |
| 1 | India | 122 | (-1) |
| 2 | Australia | 117 | (+2) |
| 3 | England | 111 | |
| 4 | Sri Lanka | 111 | |
| 5 | South Africa | 105 | |
| 6 | Pakistan | 101 | |
| 7 | New Zealand | 89 | |
| 8 | West Indies | 89 | |
| 9 | Bangladesh | 76 | |
| 10 | Zimbabwe | 55 | |
| 11 | Ireland | 38 | |
| 12 | Netherlands | 13 | |
| 13 | Kenya | 10 |
Monday, October 7, 2013
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