http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 in ICC World Cup 2011
A magnificent ton by Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara helped his team reach 265 runs in their Group A match of the ICC World Cup 2011 against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday.
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first. The wicket seemed to be excellent for batting, but the ball didn’t come onto the bat easily. The batsmen had to settle down in order to get used to the pace of the wicket.
Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan failed to provide a solid start to their team this time, as both got out early. Tharanga was unfortunate to be run-out after scoring just three runs from seven balls.
He was soon followed by Dilshan, who also failed to get going. The flamboyant batsman was unable to find the gaps today, as he only managed three runs off 15 balls. He sliced a short ball from Tim Southee, which went straight into the hands of the fielder
at the boundary.
Sri Lanka were struggling at that stage with two wickets down for just 19 runs. They needed something special from their most experienced batsmen Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara and the pair didn’t disappoint them.
They amassed a brilliant partnership of 145 runs for the third wicket and guided their team out of trouble. Jayawardene was out after scoring 66 runs off 90 balls. He missed an in swinging ball from Southee and was trapped leg-before-wicket.
The fall of the stylish first-drop player didn’t stop the Sri Lankan captain from scoring a brilliant century. With the help of 12 fours and two massive sixes, he scored 111 runs from 128 balls. However, his innings came to an end while he was attempting
a slog sweep off the bowling of Nathan McCullum. Sangakkara completely missed the ball, which crashed into the stumps.
Sangakkara’s wicket triggered a batting collapse, as the lower middle-order batsmen failed to score too many runs. However, all-rounder Angelo Mathews played well until the end and took his team’s total over the 250-run mark. The utility batsman scored an
unbeaten 41 runs off 35 balls.
Southee was yet again impressive with the ball, as he took three wickets for his team. He got some good support from Nathan McCullum, who grabbed two wickets.
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