It was a time to rejoice for ODI cricket aficionados as the much anticipated ICC Champions Trophy kicked off on Tuesday at SuperSport Park, Centurion. It was a battle of the titans as hosts and pre-tournament favourites South Africa took on the might of the Sinhalese nation, Sri Lanka. The Group B encounter was a good advertisement for the 50-over format as the two teams displayed their full array of talents and gave the tournament a decent kick-off. Sadly however for the home fans, it was the weather Gods who intervened, and the final burst to the finish line by a struggling South Africa never matured. In the end, Sri Lanka won the match quite comfortably by 55 runs thanks to Messrs. Duckworth & Lewis. South Africa were returning to the international arena after a rather long lay-off of a couple of months, having last played in ICC T20 World Cup in England. Sri Lanka on the other hand had played non-stop cricket in their summer, and the biggest challenge facing them was expected to be adjusting to alien conditions. The format of the competition is such that teams get little time to get into the groove and therefore, hitting top gear right from the word go is a prerequisite for the 8 participating nations. The pitch was surprisingly on the dry side, giving Sri Lanka a fairly homely feel going into the match. South Africa had left out their talismanic speedster Makhaya Ntini and had picked two spinners in Johan Botha and Roelof van der Merwe. Sri Lanka on the other hand decided to do away with the services of their left-arm seamer Thilan Thushara and picked the spin twins – Murali and Mendis. Clearly, the dry nature of the pitch had a major say in the team selections at both ends. Graeme Smith, the South African captain won the toss and decided to put the Lankans in. His reasoning was fair enough, being a local he knew that the dew later in the evening might render his spinners ineffective. Also, the early freshness of the pitch could potentially be exploited by his opening bowlers – Dale Steyn and the highly promising Wayne Parnell. The explosive opening duo of Sanath Jayasuriya and Tillakaratne Dilshan wasted little time in unsettling the South African bowlers as a flurry of boundaries in the first 2 overs pushed the Proteas on the back foot straightaway. It was Steyn, who with his express pace got the veteran Jayasuriya out with one that straightened after pitching and Sanath missed it altogether and was adjudged leg before wicket. The wicket had been brilliantly set-up by Steyn, as a bouncer off the previous delivery had left Jayasuriya slow to move his front foot. The South Africans got little time to rejoice, however, as Dilshan soon came into his element and pulverized the South African bowlers all round the park. Alongwith his captain Sangakkara (who himself was in great touch), he stitched together a 158 run stand to lead Sri Lanka to an imposing position of 174 for 1 in under 28 overs. Unfortunately for the Lankans, the rampaging duo departed a bit too early for their team’s liking. From 174 for 1, Sri Lanka had slipped to 181 for 3. Dilshan’s innings of 106 off a mere 92 balls was an exhibition in itself. The Lankan opener’s wide array of shots – a heady concoction ranging from the textbook to downright unorthodox – was a reminder of the distance travelled by the game from the purists’ days. Sangakkara (54) too, was his usual elegant self and stroked the ball with minimum of fuss and maximum results. The captain was the first to go, playing part-time spinner JP Duminy straight back to the bowler, and Dilshan fell 8 balls later, caught at third-man off Steyn. Jayawardene and Samaraweera had a job on their hands after the departure of Dilshan and Sangakkara. They needed to maintain the momentum and at the same time ensure that the Lankans didn’t lose their way with 20 overs still to go. South Africa, who were hoping to pull the plug on the Lankan free scoring were disappointed as both batsmen brought their A-games to the park and with their calm and methodical approach strung together another great partnership to boost the Lankan innings. When Jayawardene finally departed to a Wayne Parnell delivery, Sri Lanka were placed at 297 for 4 and with three and a half overs to go, the match already appeared to be headed in just one direction. A big total and bowlers of the likes of Muralitharan, Mendis and Malinga to defend it; not even the most ardent of South African supporters would have been willing to bet his money on the Proteas. The Sri Lankan innings finally ended at 319 for 8, some 20 runs short of what they looked set to achieve in Jayawardene’s time at the crease but a flurry of wickets at the end ensured that the total was a big one, but not a huge one. Wayne Parnell, who was preferred over the more experienced Ntini, did little to justify his selection as he got carted around the ground by the Lankan batsmen. Even though he picked 3 wickets, courtesy the Lankan batsmen going all out in their search for quick runs towards the end of the innings, the 79 runs conceded by Parnell were a fair indication of the onslaught the left arm speedster was subjected to. His opening partner Dale Steyn was the most penetrative and impressive of the Protean bowling attack, finishing with 3 for 47 of his 9 overs. Perhaps what hit the South Africans hardest was the inability of allrounders Jacques Kallis and Albie Morkel to make any impact whatsoever with the ball, they bowled a combined 11 overs for 82 runs conceded. It was a tall order for the South African batsmen to scale the Sri Lankan total and they weren’t off to the best of starts as Hashim Amla, who was a replacement for the injured Herschelle Gibbs, got out in the 3rd over itself as he chopped an Angelo Mathews delivery onto his stumps. Jacques Kallis, South Africa’s premier batsman joined his skipper Graeme Smith in the middle and the duo stamped their authority with a flourishing stand. Boundaries flowed from the bats of both, and Smith in particular looked in great touch. The signs were ominous for the Lankans when even Muralitharan was not spared by the rampaging duo. The wily off-spinner leaked 14 runs of his first over. At 90 for 1 in 14 overs, the South Africans seemed to be well on their way of chasing down the daunting target set by the Lankans. However, their plans received a big jolt as Sangakkara brought on his trump card Ajantha Mendis. The out-of-the-box mystery-spinner got Smith with the first delivery of his spell and then added the scalp of Kallis and Duminy in quick succession to leave the Proteas tottering at 113 for 4. AB de Villiers and wicketkeeper Mark Boucher tried to steady the ship but the rising run rate called for drastic action. It was this hustle for quick runs that cost De Villiers his wicket, as he skied a Lasith Malinga delivery and Jayawardene made no mistake in accepting the offering. Boucher also departed soon after to leave the South Africans at 163 for 6 and the match was all but over. Johan Botha and big hitting all rounder Albie Morkel struck some much needed boundaries to push up South Africa’s run rate a notch. The fireworks didn’t last too long as Botha fell in the batting powerplay to give Malinga his 2nd wicket of the innings. Van der Merwe, no mug with the bat, joined Morkel in the middle. It was the rain Gods who took mercy on the South African fans and bailed them out of their misery. With the score at 206 for 7 in 37.4 overs, the covers came on amidst strong showers and lightening marking the night sky. According to the much maligned but still relied upon Duckworth-Lewis system, the par score for the South African team at this stage was 261 runs. The match was finally called off at 22:55 hours local time leaving Sri Lanka victorious by 55 runs. Thus, the opening day exchange saw Sri Lanka pulverize their opponents in all aspects of the game. It was proven without a shadow of doubt that teams who have been out of the international calendar for sometime would struggle to find their peak form immediately in such a short tournament. It’s now over to Johannesburg where World T20 champions Pakistan take on a depleted West Indian squad tomorrow in another day night encounter. Surely, the West Indies will need some divine intervention if they are going to challenge the often suspect, but always entertaining Asian powerhouse. Mini Scorecard Sri Lanka 319/8 in 50 overs (6.38 rpo) Dilshan 106 (92) Steyn 3-47 Jayawardene 77 (61) Parnell 3-79 South Africa 206/7 in 37.4 overs (5.46 rpo) Smith 58 (44) Mendis 3-30 Kallis 41 (48) Malinga 2-43 Sri Lanka win by 55 runs (D/L method) Man-of-the-match: Tillakaratne Dilshan
i want to strike that handsomely with a bat, I want to slatter the wickets with the a Yorker, but I was too young to think off. My passion towards the sport has been growing with time, but my financial status made my desire more costly. Until I came to my secondary school I was I only concentrated in reforming and grooming my financial status as well as my career in education, but again I was back to my ardent desire towards cricket, but this time I want only to promote cricket in India. For that I have chosen media as my means. I want to have my own website where I can express and share my views. This website was my childhood aspiration. But again I was financially handicapped in developing the site. Again I cant stand up to my desire to promote and inspire cricket in India my current situation, promotes me to raise funds with the help of others. I am hoping to raise funds in order to keep my aspirations alive and to back my interest to inspire the youth in this country where cricket is a religion.
Loading ...