gamerkid22
National Board President
NewZealand v SriLanka , Live from Mumbai
Match Conditions
M.Atherton :The conditions are excellent for batting and the outfield is also as we saw in the last match both West Indies and Australia scored over 280 and Aussies won with 2 overs to spare .So this will be also a run feast just sit back and enjoy the cricket. The Toss
Ian Botham :SriLanka have won the toss and they have elected to bat first . Looks like a wise decision by the SriLankan captain as the pitch is good for batting and also it will help the spinners later on.SriLankan Innings
SriLanka started in an aggressive manner after winning the toss . Both the openers U.Tharanga and S.Jayasurya were hammering the bowlers and even they were hitting Shane Bond for boundaries . It was not the start which NewZealand needed and their bowlers were under pressure straight away.While Tharanga was smashing Bond for fours the next over Jayasurya got a huge SIX over overs off the bowling of Mills. Srilanka were in the drivers seat right from the word go . Tharnga reached his 50 in 51 balls and was in good touch . But Jayasurya missed his half century as he was caught in the deep by Bond a Vettori provided the breakthrough.But the eas no stopping for SriLanka as Sangakkara came and started playing his shots as well . Tharanga departed for well made 66 runs. Bu then as the momentum was already there SriLankan captain M.Jayawardena came to the middle and started hitting each and every ball but he didnt last long as he was bowled for 30 runs and it took him only 18 balls. Then Dilshan got a good partnership with Sangakkara . Dilshan was in good form and he continued it with a brilliant half century. Dilshan scored 54 runs in just 42 balls . SriLanka had a good run rate going and it was now easy to reach 300 . But in the end we all saw some hard hitting by Chaminda Vaas, R.Arnold and Maharoof. Vaas and Arnold scored 28 runs in 16 balls respectively while Maharoof scored a quickfire 50 off just 29 balls . this helped SriLanka to post a huge total of 339 and is the highest of this Champions Trophy . Now surely SriLanka are unbeatable now but we all know that the game is never lost until the last ball is bowled.
Dilshan,Maharoof and Tharanga scoring half centuries:
SriLankan Scorecard (brilliant batting)
SriLankan Scorecard (brilliant batting)
NewZealand Innings
NewZealand had to make mission impossible possible now under any circumstances as a defeat here can rule them out of the Champions Trophy.They had to make a good start and they did it perfectly as Vincent and Fleming got the scoreboard ticking with some good batting and it looked like NewZealand are going on to create history here by chasing the total. Fleming took the initiative and went after the bowling while L.Vincent was playing watchfull but the NewZealand received two big blows as both the openers were back to the pavillion .Fleming scored 40 and Vincent scored 43.
But then another partnership started growing between Astle and Styris. Both the batsmen were playing the best cricket and were determined to play and were always targeting the required run rate . The required run rate was maintained at 6.5 rpo and both Astle and Styris scored half centuries and now there was a match on .But then Maharoof and Muralitharan did the trick as NewZealand lost both Styris and Astle in back to back overs. The the asking rate was too much for the Kiwis and the lost their wickets at regular intervals . Murali was bowling well and Maharoof was providing good support. NewZealand were bowled out for 263 runs in the end and Murali ended up picking up 3 wickets for 48 runs while Maharoof picked up 2 wickets in his 10 overs.
Some great batting and intelligent bowling brought victory for the SriLankans and that too with a margin of 76 runs anNewZealand are now in trouble as they can ke knocked out of the Champions Trophy but we have to wait for the other matches also as NewZealand may go through with the required run rate if teams get tied with points.
Murali and Maharoof bowled brilliantly:
NewZealand Scorecard
NewZealand Scorecard
Man Of The Match
Man Of The Match was difficult to pick but eventually it went to F.Maharoof for is quickfire 50 off just 29 balls and also he picked up 2 wickets..
Result
SriLanka win by 76 runs
SriLanka win by 76 runs
Next Match : Australia v England , Jaipur
