May 1, 2010 by admin
Venue/Date: Guyana national stadium in Georgetown in Guyana. 30 April 2010. Debut: Dinesh Chandimal and Chanaka Welegedera (both are from Sri Lanka). Toss: Sri Lanka, elected to bat. Result: New Zealand won by 2 wkts. Man of the match: Nathan McCullum. New Zealand chase was going smoothly with Jesse Ryder and Martin Guptill collecting baundaries after easly dismissal of Brendon McCullum but main hero of the match was his brother Nathan McCullum who scored 16 valuable runs in pressure situation and hit a six to finish the game with 1 ball left. Sri Lanka innings revolved around Mahela Jayawardene who seemed the only Lankan batsmen to time the ball perfectly and made his career best T20 score while debutant Dinesh Chandimal played an important innings too. Match review: The 2010 ICC World Cup T20 was off to the perfect start when two cricketing power houses – Sri Lanka and New Zealand – dished out a nerve wracking affair at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. The Kiwis won the match on the day after a good bowling performance that restricted Sri Lanka to only 135/6 in their allotted 20 overs. The successful chase from the New Zealanders was riddled with twists and turns as wickets and runs abounded in liberal proportions to keep the onlookers hooked on to the action in the centre.Opting to bat in the sluggish pitch, the Lankan openers found runs hard to score initially. Sri Lanka had Mahela Jayawardene to thank for their respectable score of 135/6. The classical Jayawardene stroked the ball to all corners of the ground with clinical precision during his breezy knock of 81 from 51 balls. Barring some help from debutant Dinesh Chandimal (29), Jayawardene played the lone hand as others struggled on the slow and low pitch. While his team-mates struggled to score runs in the slow Providence Stadium wicket, experienced Jayawardene’s breezy 51-ball innings was a classic example of effortless sensible hitting. He also shared a crucial 59-run fourth wicket stand with debutant Dinesh Chandimal (29 off 23) to lay the foundation for the Sri Lanka score.Skipper Kumar … [Read more…]
April 30, 2010 by admin
The opening game of the ICC T20 world Cup takes place in Providence, Guyana on Friday. New Zealand takes on Sri Lanka in Group B. Venue and conditions: There is rain around for these contests at Providence so don’t be surprised if we get a reduction in overs, especially with a game to fit in after this one. The toss is key with seven sides in 10 matches batting first and winning. The highest second innings total is 244. This is the first T20 international played there. Trivia: Shane Bond has taken 18 wickets against Sri Lanka in 13 matches. Sri Lanka Vs New Zealand: Sri Lanka: Sangakkara skippers the side which includes a few golden oldies such as Jayasuria, Murali, Dilshan and Jayawardene along with some promising youngsters, many of whom have already made a mark in one format or another. The excellent Lasith Malinga leads the pace bowling attack but significantly, Sangakkara is already talking up the significance of his options to take pace off the ball. Murali and Mendis are the front liners in this respect but Sri Lanka can call on at least three others who are more than useful. Dilshan had a really disappointing IPL and a return to the sort of form he showed in this tournament last year would be a major boost. If the wickets are spin friendly, I expect Sri Lanka to once again have a good tilt at this tournament. New Zealand: The Black Caps go in with the majority of their tried and trusted. Vettori has the likes of McCullum, Ryder, Taylor, Styris, Bond, Mills and Oram all of whom are dangerous customers in their respective disciplines but they seem to struggle to put it together at the same time. I quietly fancied them last season when they were also a double figures quote in the outright winner market but they were found wanting against the better sides. Ross Taylor only got going late in the IPL, too late to help the Royal Challengers to success, but he does look the prize wicket amongst the batsmen. Shane Bond’s return is most welcome, Mills is a good performer and Vettori himself can be relied upon to be economical but the strength of the remaining … [Read more…]
