Dilshan shines in SL win over Zimbabwe

Updated at: 2122 PST,  Thursday, March 10, 2011

PALLEKELE: Zimbabwe lost the battle against Sri Lanka after their openers provided an impressive century stand in their World Cup Group A day-night match here at the Pallekele International Stadium on Thursday.Chasing a huge total of 328, Brendan Taylor and Regis Chakabva accepted Sri Lanka’s challenge by posting a courageous 116 runs in 19.5 overs for Zimbabwean opening stand.But as soon the magician off-break bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan, ended the partnership, bowling Chakabva out, Zimbabwean wickets were falling like nine pins and the whole team was out for 188, losing the match by 139 runs. Taylor hit a dashing 80 off 72 balls with nine fours and a six while Chakabva gave him valuable support scoring a patient 35 from 61 balls. No other batsman could make any significant contribution.Off-spinner Tillekaratne Dilshan, giving the best allround performance, captured four wickets for only four runs, including two on successive balls, while Muralitharan bagged three and Angelo Mathews grabbed two wickets Earlier, openers Dilshan and Upul Tharanga hit centuries during a record World Cup opening stand to lift Sri Lanka to 327-6 against hapless Zimbabwe.This was a rare incident of both openers of a team scoring hundreds in a World Cup match.Dilshan scored 144 for his ninth one-day hundred, while left-hander Tharanga notched a career-best 133 for his tenth, making Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura pay for his decision to field after winning the toss on a docile pitch.They put on 282, just failing to beat the record opening stand of 286 in all 50-over cricket. Tharanga also featured in that partnership with Sanath Jayasuriya against England at Leeds in 2006.This was also the fourth highest partnership for any wicket in ODI history.It all ended when Tharanga was caught at cover by Chigumbura in Christopher Mpofu's 45th over, after a brilliant 141-ball knock, spiced by 17 hits to the fence.Dilshan fell in the next over, caught off spinner Prosper Utseya off a miscued drive. The 34-year-old opener smashed one six and 16 boundaries during his attractive 131-ball knock.Mpofu finished with 4-64 as Sri Lanka lost four more wickets for just 45 runs late in the innings.

Read More

Dilshan, Tharanga butcher Zimbabwean bowlers

Updated at: 1757 PST,  Thursday, March 10, 2011

PALLEKELE: Sri Lankan batsmen ruthlessly punished Zimbabwean bowlers to amass a huge score of 327 runs for the loss of six wickets in a World Cup Group A match here at the Pallekele International Stadium on Thursday.Sent into bat by Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura, Sri Lankan openers Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan set a new record for a first wicket partnership at the World Cup surpassing the previous best of 194 made by Pakistan's Saeed Anwar and Wajahatullah Wasti against New Zealand at Manchester in the World Cup 1999.The duo set the new record in 33rd over, then crossed 200 runs in 202 balls and later 250 off 249 but Tharanga fell just five runs short of the world record for the highest opening partnership of 286, set by himself with Sanath Jayasuriya against England at Leeds in 2006.However, this is the fourth-highest stand for any wicket in a one-day international.This is also a rare incident that both openers made centuries in a World Cup innings. Tharanga was eventually out for 133, his career-best, from 141 balls with 17 fours. He was caught by Elton Chigumbura off Chris Mpofu in the 45th over.Dilshan followed shortly afterwards, caught by Chigumbura off Prosper Utseya. He hit 144 off 131 balls with 16 fours and a six Later, Sri Lanka lost four more wickets in an effort to make quick runs and finished on 327-6 in the allotted 50 overs.A victory for the co-hosts in this match will guarantee them a quarter-final place.

Read More

Reverse swing can do the damage in baking Nagpur: Morkel

Updated at: 2122 PST,  Thursday, March 10, 2011
Nagpur, March 10 (IANS) The moment you land in Nagpur you feel the heat, literally. Out in the middle, too, it is expected to be as feisty with two World Cup favourites India and South Africa locking horns Saturday.It is the second week of March and the temperatures in the city are hovering around 37-38 degrees celsius. The afternoon sun is beating down hard on the 22-yard strip and the square. The soaring temperature can be felt with every passing hour of the day. South Africa have been sweating it out in the midday heat for the last two days. They flew down straight from Chennai after their defeat by England on a rank turner.England not only troubled South Africa with spin, but also with their medium-pacers' reverse swing, a dimension of the game typical to the sub-continent weather. James Anderson and Stuart Broad got the ball to reverse swing in Chennai.Here too the ball can wobble the other way after losing its shine.'The wickets we have played on so far have turned. It's basically a reverse role now and we try to support spinners as much as we can,' said South Africa's pace bowler Morne Morkel.'Reverse swing will be the key and quicker we get that going, the better it is for us,' he said.The wicket though is a belter and has lots of runs. The Netherlands gave England a scare in the high-scoring first match here.'It is going to be as good an ODI strip as we have seen in the earlier matches,' says curator Praveen Hinganikar.A different aspect of the heat could be the fatigue. The visitors say they are used to playing in such conditions and the heat will not tire them out. 'Durban is similar to these conditions. I don't think any of our guys are scared to sweat,' said Morkel.

Read More

Bangladesh desperate to revive World Cup fortunes

Updated at: 2122 PST,  Thursday, March 10, 2011

This World Cup began in Bangladesh. No, not because it hosted the inauguration ceremony, but because when India seemed unexcited and cool about the World Cup, the anticipation began in earnestness here. The whole week leading to the event was one incredible party on the streets of Dhaka. That excitement, however, hasn't carried onto the field for their side. They are now a side looking for some excitement, for some action.England, on the other hand, have kept the World Cup alive, or at least the league stages of it. They have brought the excitement into what promised to be a boring month of travel all over the subcontinent, with not much to determine. They have been the biggest endorsement for the Associates, who are on the hit list of the ICC and the sponsors. They, however, are looking for a little less thrill and a lot more passive action."It's been great to be involved in some thrilling games," their captain, Andrew Strauss, said on the eve of their game against Bangladesh. "Personally I would have liked them to be a bit easier. I'd probably have a bit more hair on my head at this stage of the tournament. But we have shown a lot of character in a couple of those games certainly, and we want these last two games to be less close, to be honest."They haven't quite been that fortunate on that count in the lead-up to the game: in four days, they have lost Kevin Pietersen and Stuart Broad to injuries. Surely they won't mind even scraping through to the next round, no matter how comprehensively or scratchily they do it. After that it is just a matter of having three good nights."We have been inconsistent in the tournament so far," Strauss said. "We have had two very good games against India and South Africa, two less good ones, against Ireland and Netherlands. We really want to firstly make sure we qualify for the quarter-finals, which means we have to win this game. And secondly, we need to get some consistency into our game. We have got this game, and one against the West Indies in order to do that. It's important that we do do that, and play good solid cricket with both bat and ball."The loss of Pietersen and Broad is huge, but like any modern side knows, it is the reality of playing modern cricket with modern schedules. "It's not ideal by any means," Strauss said. "We have had to deal with this over the winter. We are very fortunate we have got two ready-made replacements there. In Eoin Morgan, whose finger has recovered just in time, thankfully. And Chris Tremlett, who bowls very similarly to Stuart Broad, and who has been with us, and is used to the conditions. It could have been worse, I suppose, in some ways. Those guys need to come in and hit the ground running, that's important."Bangladesh have had issues of the other kind to deal with. It has been a mix of their playing worse than they can, and also the crowds expecting too much. For, when you look at it, they have lost to India and West Indies which, provided both sides are at full strength, they are expected to more often than not. They always knew they would need two upsets, or if they are lucky, just one, to make it to the next round. They still have an opportunity to do that. The end of the world has not yet arrived, but it's the way they crumbled against West Indies last week that made their fans lose it.Shakib Al Hasan has had to bear the brunt of the people and the former players, but he says he is happy to have deflected all the negative attention onto just himself. "It's difficult to describe," Shakib said of the crowd reaction. "Some days when you play well, they will cheer for you. When you don't play well, they will abuse you. We are not thinking about our crowd. We have to just do our stuff. We know what we can do, and we have to do those things."However, Shakib didn't seek to hide the pressure the side is under, going into what should be a now-or-never game given their poor net run-rate. "Boys will be a bit tense, but we know if we play our best cricket, we can beat any side. They are confident enough to do the right things. We have the belief in ourselves that if we play our best game we can beat any side in the world, in our home conditions, especially."

Read More