Sri Lanka v Kenya- Lasith Malinga and Upul Tharanga shine – ICC World Cup 2011
Sri Lanka has dismantled http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kenya-c752 by an emphatic margin of nine wickets in a group ‘A’ fixture of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 at R. Premadasa, Colombo.
This comprehensive win for the home team would definitely boost their confidence as they lost their previous game of the tournament against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 chased down the total with more than 31 overs left in the innings and this hammering came after Lasith Malinga’s bowling broke the back of the inexperienced Kenyan batting and claimed a hat-trick as well.
Chasing a low score, Sri Lanka was off to a flying start thanks to Upul Tharanga and Tillekaratne Dilshan as both of them played their shots at will and never looked to be in any kind of trouble. Both of them scored 72 runs for the first wicket partnership
before Dilshan was caught behind off the bowling of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Elijah-Otieno-c55866.
However, Tharanga found able support in the shape of his captain, Kumar Sangakkara, and both the left handers saw their team home with ease. Tharanga played some fantastic shots off spinners once he completed his half-century. He was also off to a good start
against Pakistan but could not carry on.
Tharanga remained the top scorer for Sri Lanka as he made 67 runs off just 59 balls and remained unbeaten. Dilshan played a little cameo as his 44 runs came off only 30 balls with the help of eight boundaries.
Kenya’s bowling looked quite helpless against some superb stroke-play by the Sri Lankan batsmen. However, Otieno picked up the only wicket to have fallen in the Sri Lankan innings.
Lasith Malinga was named man of the match for his outstanding spell of fast bowling. He picked up six wickets including his second World Cup hat-trick, which destroyed the Kenyan hopes of posting a reasonable score on the board. This is the ICC 2011 World
Cup’s second hat-trick in two days and has set the showpiece event alight.
This was a much needed win for the home team and Malinga’s comeback has made a significant difference to the Sri Lankan team and their confidence. He is a genuine match-winner and can play a big role in this tournament for his team’s success.
Tags: