Sri Lanka beat New Zealand, enter World Cup final
Apr 25, 2007 - 8:53:51 AM
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TV umpire: Daryl Harper -
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By IANS,
[RxPG] Kingston -, April 25 - Sri Lanka rode into the final of the cricket World Cup on the crest of captain Mahela Jayawardene's ninth century that set up an 81-run triumph over New Zealand in the first semi-final Tuesday.
The Sri Lanka captain scored an undefeated 115 from 109 balls to propel his side to 289 for five from their allocation of 50 overs after they won the toss and chose to bat on a hard, true Sabina Park pitch.
Champion off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralithan captured four wickets for 31 runs from eight overs to scuttle New Zealand's batting and send the Black Caps crashing to 208 all out in 41.4 overs.
This will be the second time Sri Lanka will appear in the final, following their triumph in the 1996 competition that they jointly hosted with India and Pakistan.
Their opponents will be decided Wednesday when reigning World champions and world No. 1 Australia face world No. 2 South Africa in the second semi-final at the Beausejour Stadium in St. Lucia.
This is the fifth time that New Zealand have lost in the semi-finals. They have never made it to the finals.
Jayawardene, who had a painfully slow start, cut Jacob Oram to third man for the ninth of his 10 fours to reach his 100 in the penultimate over of the innings.
He headlined consistent batting down the order for Sri Lanka, as Upul Tharanga scored 73 from 74 balls, Tillakaratne Dilshan made 30 off 27 balls, and Chamara Silva got 21 from 33 balls.
James Franklin was the most successful New Zealand bowler with two wickets for 46 runs from nine overs.
The New Zealand middle-order crumbled against Muralitharan's clever bowling as they lost Scott Styris, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, Peter Fulton, and Daniel Vettori for 11 runs in 23 balls.
This sent the Kiwis tumbling from the heights of 105 for two in the 22nd over to the depths of 116 for seven in the 26th over.
A handful of batsmen got starts for New Zealand, but none carried on. Fulton made the top score of 46 from 77 balls, Styris scored 37, Jeetan Patel made 34 in a late flurry, Franklin was not out on 30, and Craig McMillan defied a groin injury to smite 25 off 20 balls.
Fast bowler Lasith Malinga had given Sri Lanka early success when he had Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, adjudged lbw for one in the second over.
Malinga and Chaminda Vaas increased tension with some superb swing bowling that made Fulton and Ross Taylor look like schoolboys.
Vaas put Taylor out of his misery for nine when he gained a palpable LBW verdict in the 11th over.
Styris came to the crease, and immediately dominated the Sri Lanka bowling, in particular Dilhara Fernando. This was the most prosperous period of the New Zealand innings.
Styris had added 73 for the third wicket with Fulton when he was caught at mid-wicket for 37 off Dilshan.
This started the slide that dashed New Zealand's dreams of a first World Cup appearance in their fifth semi-final.
Muralitharan had Oram caught and bowled for three, and McCullum caught at backward square leg for a duck top-edging a sweep off the last two balls of the 24th over.
Sanath Jayasuriya interjected to have Fulton caught at short mid-wicket in the 25th over before Muralitharan had Vettori lbw for a duck.
New Zealand reached a respectable total through a late flurry from Patel, Franklin, and McMillan, but Sri Lanka were well in control.
Earlier, they did not appear to be in so much control when they batted. They lost Jayasuriya in the third over when Franklin bowled him for one, before a partnership of 54-run stand between Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara gave them early momentum.
Sangakkara was caught at mid-on off Franklin in the 14th over, and Sri Lankans chose discretion as the best part of valour and soaked up the pressure from the New Zealand bowlers in the middle overs.
Jayawardene was the epitome of conservatism with his batting that seemed more suited for a Test match rather than an ODI.
He lost Tharanga in the 26th over, when Vettori bowled the left-handed opener then put on 41 for the fourth wicket with Silva, who copped the first of two dubious LBW decisions in the 35th over off Shane Bond.
Dilshan arrived and jammed his foot down on the accelerator that lifted Jayawardene, and they shared 81 for the biggest partnership of the innings.
Dilshan received the second dubious lbw verdict off Oram to leave Sri Lanka 233 for five in the 46th over before Jayawardene exploded in the closing overs to beef up his side's total.
SCOREBOARD
1st semi-final, New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, World Cup,
Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica
Sri Lanka:
Upul Tharanga b Vettori 73
Sanath Jayasuriya b Franklin 1
Kumar Sangakkara c Fleming b Franklin 18
Mahela Jayawardene not out 115
Chamara Silva lbw b Bond 21
Tillakaratne Dilshan lbw b Oram 30
Russel Arnold not out 14
Extras: - 17
Total: - 289
Fall of wickets: 1-13 -, 2-67 -, 3-111 -, 4-152 -, 5-233 -
Bowling:
James Franklin 9-1-46-2 -
Shane Bond 10-1-59-1 -
Jacob Oram 10-0-60-1 -
Daniel Vettori 10-0-51-1 -
Jeetan Patel 10-0-62-0
Scott Styris 1-0-8-0 -
New Zealand:
Peter Fulton c Silva b Jayasuriya 46
Stephen Fleming lbw b Malinga 1
Ross Taylor lbw b Vaas 9
Scott Styris c Jayawardene b Dilshan 37
Jacon Oram c & b Muralitharan 3
Brendon McCullum c Silva b Muralitharan 0
Craig McMillan b Jayasuriya 25
Daniel Vettori lbw b Muralitharan 0
James Franklin not out 30
Shane Bond b Muralitharan 2
Jeetan Patel c Fernando b Dilshan 34
Extras: - 21
Total: - 208
Fall of wickets: 1-2 -, 2-32 -, 3-105 -, 4-114 -, 5-114 -, 6-115 -, 7-116 -, 8-144 -, 9-149 -, 10-208 -
Bowling:
Chaminda Vaas 8-1-25-1 -
Lasith Malinga 7-2-21-1 -
Dilhara Fernando 5-0-45-0 -
Muttiah Muralitharan 8-0-31-4 -
Sanath Jayasuriya 9-0-57-2 -
Tillakaratne Dilshan 4.4-0-22-2 -
Result: Sri Lanka won by 81 runs
Man of the Match: Mahela Jayawardene - Umpires: Rudi Koertzen - and Simon Taufel -
TV umpire: Daryl Harper -
Match referee: Mike Procter -
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