LIONS ROAR Into Semis – England Get 10 Wicket Mauling
By Dinouk Colombage
Tillekeratne Dilshan plays his famous 'Dill scoop' shot
A combined team effort by Sri Lanka helped them record an emphatic 10 wicket victory over England in their quarter-final clash and send the latter crashing out of the World Cup on Saturday. England’s run of tight games in the World Cup came to an abrupt halt as they were handed a ten wicket drubbing by Sri Lanka in Colombo on Saturday. Chasing England’s modest 229/6 Sri Lanka’s openers batted through the innings unseparated as Sri Lanka reached their target with all wickets intact and ten overs to spare.
England won the toss and elected to bat on a pitch that has traditionally favoured the team batting first. The toss turned out to be the only thing that went right for England and the rest of their day was all downhill.
Despite playing in overcast conditions Sri Lanka chose to go into the game with three specialist spinners with paceman Nuwan Kulasekera making way for left arm spinner Rangana Herath who joined Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis in the attack. England were unchanged from their previous game – sticking with Chris Tremlett over the out of form James Anderson.
The English openers played cautiously against the new ball as they looked to get to grips with the slow nature of the wicket. Kumar Sangakkara in a surprise move gave part-time spinner Tillekeratne Dilshan the new ball alongside Lasith Malinga.
The move worked well as neither of the openers looked comfortable against the spin. Andrew Strauss never looked settled at the wicket struggling with his timing and placement. The England Captain had scratched around for 3 runs off 21 balls looking all at sea against Dilshan when latter put a merciful end to his misery by knocking back his middle stump with a top spinner.
Ian Bell, who was promoted to the opening position for this match, looked threatening for a short while as he scored 25 runs off 32 deliveries before he hit Angelo Matthews straight to Samaraweera. His dismissal in the 9th over left England at a precarious position of 31 for 2.
Ravi Bopara and Jonathan Trott combined to lift England to 95 before Muralitharan removed Bopara for 31. With the fall of the wicket in the 27th over England duly needed a partnership and one which would lift the scoring rate. Irish born Eoin Morgan certainly looked the part as he took the attack to the bowlers. A mixture of boundaries and quick run singles meant that England’s run rate began to climb steadily. Morgan and Trott put on a 91 run partnership in 16 overs as England looked to be building towards a competitive total.
During the partnership Sir Lanka’s fielding which has been quite outstanding throughout the tournament suddenly nosedived and regulation catches were put down by Angelo Mathews, Thilan Samaraweera and Rangana Herath. Opting for the batting powerplay in the 43rd over England carried on the trend that has been seen throughout the World Cup as they lost 2 quick wickets.
The first to go was Eoin Morgan for a well-made 50 off 55 deliveries. His dismissal was followed immediately after by Graeme Swann who was trapped LBW off the bowling of Ajantha Mendis for a duck. The powerplay proved to be inexpensive for Sri Lanka as it cost only 23 runs but also saw the fall of 2 wickets including the dangerous Eoin Morgan.
Matt Prior and Jonathan Trott tried to lift the scoring rate however tight bowling by the Sri Lankans ensured that they were unable to capitalise on the good platform laid by Trott and Morgan. Trott was finally dismissed in the 49th over caught on the boundary by Jayawardena off the bowling of Muralitharan for a valuable 86 runs. Sri Lanka’s good death bowling ensured that England was only able to post 229 for 6 in their 50 overs – about 30 runs below par. For England Trott top scored with 86 while Muralitharan was the pick of the bowlers picking up 2 wickets for 54 runs.
England began their defence of 230 in similar fashion to Sri Lanka by opening with a mix of pace and spin in the form of Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann. The two openers looked to take the attack to the bowlers as they both picked off boundaries, including a straight six off Swann. The pair raced to their 50 run partnership in 9 overs, easing the pressure on the rest of the batting line-up. Chris Tremlett’s introduction did not pay off as the two in the middle continued to score at a rate maintaining the pressure on the English fielders.
This was clearly evident when Tharanga lofted a drive straight to long off only to have the fielder hesitate before seeing the ball drop short. Andrew Strauss’ desperation to get a wicket was evident from his decision to delay taking the bowling powerplay. The 100 run partnership between the two openers was brought up in the 19th over. Dilshan registered his half century in only 57 deliveries and Tharanga followed suit shortly afterwards his 50 coming off 70 deliveries.
Strauss finally opted to take the bowling powerplay in the 30th over in an attempt to manufacture a wicket but the move backfired and the Sri Lankan openers continued on their way registering the 150 run stand in the 30th over. England’s experiment of the bowling powerplay failed as they conceded 40 runs while failing to break the partnership.
Dilshan and Tharanga continued to pile on the misery for the English bowlers as they registered their second double century partnership. The 200 came up in the 36th over. Dilshan stamped his authority on the game in the 37th over when he registered his second century of the tournament, it came off 107 deliveries.
Tharanga followed up with his own century shortly afterwards bringing up the hundred in a 122 deliveries. Fittingly the two openers saw their team through to the end as they comprehensively beat England by 10 wickets in the 40th over.
Sri Lanka’s emphatic ten wicket victory helped erase the memories of their fielding in the afternoon while also confirming their spot in the semi-finals. They will once again meet New Zealand this time at home at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. For England their long winter which included the ashes success comes to a disappointing end as they bow out of the 2011 World Cup on the back of a humiliating 10 wicket loss to Sri Lanka.
At least the English know how to accept defeat gracefully. They didn’t set fire to the stadium like the Indians did in 1996!
The 3 spinners strategy was a good move-Dilshan bowling early was a good move by the Captain-But he should have continued with him for sometime.The same arrangement might be useful for the semi- against New Zealand-
I just cant see why Sangakkara and Mahela also can build up a great partnership in the semi-
Murali must be 100% fit to get in there and do his bit-
We are on the way to be crowned as the 2011-World cup Champions-
Sanga-Mahela-Murali-Dilshan-all the very best-We are watching you from Canada.
Excellent performance by lankan team.
sanga, plz plz plz play samarawera at no 3. mahela from no 4 to no 5. this is the only way to add some stability to middle order. Samarawera at no 5 isnt working.
1.tharanga
2.dilli
3.samarawera(is a stable player, adds alot of stability to the whole team)
4.sanga
5.mahela
6/7.mathews/silva
listen to arjuna’s advice.
Walking in to the freshly rebuilt Wankhede Stadium the day before the World Cup final, the most arresting visuals are the huge hoardings featuring Indian cricketers in body paint and primal scream. There’s MS Dhoni looking slightly out of character; there are Harbhajan Singh and Virat Kohli in an extension of their on-field persona; and there is Virender Sehwag looking brooding and intense.
One cricketer is significant by his absence. Sachin Tendulkar doesn’t endorse this cola brand anymore.
But just as well. For all of India, the World Cup has built itself up for the perfect finale, the dream finish: The Indian team winning it as the perfect gift for its greatest ever cricketer. It would complete the Sachin Tendulkar story. Throw in the hundredth hundred and the whole nation could die in peace. But Tendulkar isn’t the only legend due a fairytale. There is another team in the match and what a farewell would it be for Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka’s greatest cricketer.
And if precedent is anything to go by, the force is with Murali. The final ball of his Test career yielded a wicket, his 800th. The final ball of his international career at home fetched another and led to a comfortable win in the World Cup semi-final. Injury or not, who’d bet against him bowing on one leg and walking off the field with a handsome smile?
Fans in the subcontinent can sometimes be accused of missing the bigger picture by obsessing with individuals and certainly no one man can win the World Cup by himself. But that Tendulkar and Murali lend this World Cup final a certain poignancy and romance is unquestionable. Neither deserves disappointment but that’s the cruelty of sport: for one dream realised tomorrow, there will be one broken. Murali has already been part of a World Cup-winning team but, if India lose tomorrow, Tendulkar will never know the feeling.
Neither deserves disappointment but that’s the cruelty of sport: for one dream realised tomorrow, there will be one broken. Murali has already been part of a World Cup-winning team but, if India lose tomorrow, Tendulkar will never know the feeling.
Their craft and ways are different, but there are remarkable similarities between Tendulkar and Murali. Their careers have almost run concurrently and they have built records that are unlikely to be ever broken. Neither has allowed fame to corrupt them or divert them from their path. Both have made their nations proud not merely by their achievements on the field, but also with the dignity and grace they have conducted themselves off it. The controversies that Murali’s action generated were not of his making; if anything, the way he has dealt with them has merely enhanced his reputation. And if Tendulkar can be accused of anything it is of being too reticent.
They have even had similar rivals. When they dazzled, Brian Lara and Shane Warne were more magical and compelling, but Tendulkar and Murali have endured because their devotion to the game was purer and they allowed nothing to distract them. And over the years they have become strong symbols of national identity in a way Lara and Warne could never have become.
And from their team-mates they have not merely earned respect but genuine affection. Murali has always been the soul of the Sri Lankan dressing room. Both Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara spoke endearingly about what a “nuisance” Murali is with his constant chattering about cricket. “He perhaps thinks he knows more about batting than Sachin,” Jayawardene said. Murali, already a star, was the first team-mate to take him out for a meal when Jayawardene was a nobody, and he was neither the first nor the last one to receive his kindness. “Murali is always there for you,” Jayawardene said.
Tendulkar has never been as effusive by nature but, from all accounts, young players are drawn to him. Unlike some of his predecessors whose presence was intimidating, Tendulkar has been a calming influence in the dressing room, leading not merely by example but by doing little things to put at ease younger players who might have otherwise been star-struck by him.
If there is anything lacking between them, it’s the absence of the kind of rivalry forged between either Tendullkar and Warne, and Murali and Lara. Leave aside a grand series, or full innings or a spell, it’s hard to remember a moment of magic involving them. And remarkably, even though India and Sri Lanka have played each other incessantly in the last few years, our ball-by-ball records show only 91 balls in ODIs and 366 balls in Tests between Tendulkar and Murali.
The World Cup can have only one winner tomorrow. Neither Tendulkar nor Murali would mind personal failure in their final World Cup match if their team ends up on the winner’s podium. For cricket’s sake, though, let’s pray that these two titans rouse each other to a battle worthy of them.