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 Sangakkara too found runs hard to come by in the slow wicket as he took 11 deliveries to score his four runs before Scott Styris castled his stumps. Young Chandimal also blossomed in Jayawardene’s company as he hit a four and a six during his 23-ball innings before he was brilliantly caught at the boundary by Ross Taylor off Nathan McCullum.
In reply, the Kiwis looked in control initially with Jesse Ryder and Martin Guptill consolidating the innings after the early loss of Brendon McCullum. However wickets at regular intervals saw the Kiwis dig themselves a hole as they needed 41 runs from the last 4 overs. A couple of lusty hits from Jacob Oram and a breezy cameo (16 runs from 6 balls) from Nathan McCullum saw New Zealand win by 2 wickets with a ball to spare. Ajantha Mendis scalped Scott Styris (17) in the seventeenth over soon after Muttiah Muralitharan dismissed Ross Taylor (9) to ignite hopes for the Lankans. Kiwis also lost Martin Guptill (19) and Jesse Ryder (42) in consecutive overs after leading their innings with a decent stand. Ryder slammed three fours and two sixes in his quick-fire 27-ball inning whereas Guptill hit a four and a six in his 24-ball stay on the crease.
Earlier, Angelo Mathews gave Sri Lanka a prefect start as he bowled a superb first over (wicket-maiden) to get rid of McCullum. The most successful batsman in the short history of T20 internationals tried to pull one from Angelo Matthews but miscued it and Lasith Malinga did the rest. It was a great start for Mathews as he bowled a maiden in the first over of the innings and this despite the fact that he was the supposed weak link in the Lankan bowling attack boasting of the likes of Muralitharan, Mendis and Malinga.
Welegedera was the other opening bowler for the Lankans and his wayward start (conceding 11 runs from his first over) was the exact opposite of the niggardly opening over bowled by Angelo Mathews. Jesse Ryder displayed his intentions in the 3rd over itself as he deposited Mathews deep over mid-wicket for the first six of the Kiwi innings.
At one stage the Kiwis needed 50 runs from 34 balls, and with Malinga’s 3 overs still to go, the end of the innings promised loads of nail biting action. Daniel Vettori came to the crease with his team needing all his experience. The next twist in the match came when Scott Styris (17) tried to ‘heave’ away all the pressure but missed a straight ball from Ajantha Mendis. A tidy over from Malinga conceded just 6 and Welegedera was brought on by Sangakkara for the penultimate over. New Zealand scraped together 9 runs including a well run three to leave them with 10 to get from the last over to be bowled by Malinga.
It was a wonderful match and an apt one for the tournament opener. The see-sawing fortunes of the contest kept the fans and players alike riveted to the action. Both teams have a few days off, before Sri Lanka take on an in-form Zimbabwe in a do-or-die encounter on Monday. New Zealand will meet the African nation the following day.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka: 135 for 6 (20 overs) (Jayawardene 81 (51), Chandimal 29 (23), Bond 2-35)
New Zealand: 139 for 8 (19.5 overs) (Ryder 42 (27), Guptil 19(24), Muralitharan 2-25).
Disappointments:
1. Dilshan batting
2. Poor Sri Lanka bowling
3. Lasith Malinga bowling.
Positive points:
1. Jayawardene batting
2. New Zealand match preparation, fielding and fighting spirit
3. Ryder, Oram and Nathan batting
In another match, West Indies crushed Ireland by 70 runs. Ireland narrowly escaped its previous record of lowest T20 score in word cup by 1 run. Sammy is Man of the match for his all-round performance (30 runs and 3 wickets).
