ICC World Cup 2011: http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 defeat Canada by 210 runs
Sri Lanka swept aside Canada by 210 runs in their opening game of the ICC Cricket World Cup in Hambantota on Sunday.
The Sri Lankans posted a massive total of 332 runs for six wickets in their 50 overs after they won the toss and chose to bat. In reply the Canadians were bowled out for an embarrassing 122 runs in less than 37 overs. It proved to be a sad day for the minnows,
as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 crushed Kenyan rather emphatically in Sunday’s earlier game.
The Sri Lankan team got off to a good start and focused on building partnerships and building a solid platform for the middle order batsmen. The openers did a fine job with Dilshan in particular playing very well for his fifty. After a cautious start, the
pace of the innings picked up with the arrival of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene at the crease. The experienced duo played with remarkable ease as they guided the hosts to a position from where they could really cut loose.
Jayawardene was the more aggressive of the two as runs flowed from his bat, while his captain supported him well. The colossal 176 run partnership came to an end when Sangakkara was dismissed just eight runs short of a hundred. Jayawardene went on to score
exactly 100 before he too was dismissed. In the end, Angelo Mathews and Thilan Samaraweera made sure that they got the team over the 300-run mark.
The Canadian bowlers toiled hard but struggled to contain the batsmen and were dispatched to all corners of the ground. John Davison and Harvir Baidwan were the most successful bowlers, taking two wickets each.
The mammoth target set by the Lankans invited a lukewarm response from the Canadian team. Losing their most experienced batsman, Davison, at the very beginning set the tone for the rest of the innings. The rest of the batting line-up also failed to make
an impression. The top order had no answers to the Sri Lankan bowling as wickets just kept falling.
Captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rizwan-Cheema-c2328, who during his brief stay at the crease, showed that offence is the best form of defence. His 37
from 35 balls - which included two sixes - was the only highlight of the lacklustre batting performance his team put up. The run chase was a disaster and the inevitable soon happened when the last man was dismissed in the 37th over.
The Sri Lankan bowlers were superb on the night, as they ripped through the Canadian batting line-up. Thisara Perera and Nuwan Kulasekara were the pick of the bowlers with each of them collecting three wickets, while http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Muttiah-Muralitharan-c78157 chipped in with
two wickets.
The match was a one-sided affair with the hosts totally dominating and outplaying http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755.
Canada on the other hand will find it hard to recover from this defeat but they will try to seek some redemption when they play http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045 in their second match.
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