Sri Lanka vs. New Zealand: second innings 0 to 20-overs Report – ICC World Cup 2011
Sri Lanka were set a target of 218 runs after some disciplined bowling on their part that had the New Zealand batting line-up under constant pressure. With the Sri Lankan’s top three batsmen all in the top five run scorers in the tournament, the Kiwi’s had
a tough task ahead in trying to defend their total.
Nathan McCullum was handed the ball for the first over by the New Zealand captain as Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan made their way onto the crease, as they looked to book themselves a place in the ICC World Cup 2011 final.
The first runs on the board came as early as the third ball, when Tharanga hoisted the ball straight past the bowler’s head and over the boundary for six. This was not the start the Kiwi’s wanted, as Tim Southee set his mark to bowl the second over.
Tharanga looked as though he wanted to finish up the match in record time, as he hit Southee for two fours off the second last and last balls of the over. There were three wides to add to the Kiwi’s misery, as by the end of the second over http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 were
flying at 18 runs for no loss.
This prompted New Zealand to make a bowling change, as Daniel Vettori took the bowling responsibility in the fourth over replacing Tim Southee, as the Kiwi’s looked to control the Sri Lankan assault.
What http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 needed was a break-through and they got just that when Southee was reintroduced to the bowling attack in the eight over. Jesse Ryder took one of the catches of the tournament at point after Tharanga thought he had sent the ball to the boundary.
Tharanga’s aggressive 30 run innings gave the Sri Lankan’s a good start, as Captain Kumar Sangakkara entered the field to continue his side’s innings. New Zealand on the other hand was looking to ensure that they did not let the batsmen settle and get a
partnership going.
The Sri Lankan’s knew they had the game under control and stuck to their game plan, as they batted sensibly. By the 20th over the two batsmen had built up a 43 run partnership with Dilshan scoring 31 runs and Sangakkara scoring 17 runs, as the
host nation cruised to a total of 83 runs for the loss of only one wicket.
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