Tenacious Black Caps knocked out of World Cup
They gave it everything and for portions of this morning's semi-final against Sri Lanka in Colombo looked like they could make history and become the first New Zealand side to reach a World Cup final.
But the Black Caps were agonisingly sent packing from the tournament for the sixth time at the semifinal stage out of 10 tournaments after the hosts chased down their meagre total of 217 with 13 balls and five wickets to spare.
Heading into the match at R Premadasa Stadium, New Zealand, the only team from outside the subcontinent still in the tournament, were given little chance against the side who ended their last World Cup at the same stage.
They talked a brave game and genuinely believed they could beat the odds again -- as they did four days earlier by upsetting South Africa in Dhaka.
But after posting such a small total from their 50 overs, the New Zealanders would have known they hadn't done enough with the bat to book their first ever place in the decider.
On a pitch that offered little for batsmen, the Sri Lankans, in much the same way as the Black Caps, struggled for batting fluidity.
The addition of Wellington quick Andy McKay at the expense of spinner Luke Woodcock helped the New Zealanders maintain a degree of pressure through the first 25 overs.
However, Tillakaratne Dilshan and skipper Kumar Sangakkara appeared to be coasting towards the target. But when Dilshan fell for 73 and the normally-rock solid Mahela Jayawardene followed three balls later, the crowd fell silent for the first time.
Sangakkara was next to go for 54 and at 169-4, the Sri Lankans were suddenly in trouble, needing 49 runs from 13.4 overs.
With two new batsmen in Thilan Samaraweera and Chamara Silva at the crease, the scoring dried up instantly and the tension thickened with every dot ball.
Aware their opposition were ripe for the killing, the New Zealanders closed in, cramping the circle with fieldsman.
With eight overs left, the Sri Lankans still needed 33 to win but had eased the pressure slightly thanks to two flukey boundaries off Jesse Ryder and the crowd once again began to blow their trumpets and beat their drums, sensing an escape from jail was at hand.
Tim Southee was reintroduced to the attack and silenced the locals again by bowling Silva for 13 - his third wicket of the night.
When Angelo Mathews limped out to the middle with a runner, the game was anyone's.
But after scoring 10 runs in the 46th, the Sri Lankans were all but home.
"It's obviously very disappointing. The group performed so hard to stay in the tournament and to come up short here hurts a lot," New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said.
"We'll look back on losing a number of wickets in the last 10 overs and that was probably the turning point.
"But I was pleased with how hard the guys fought, particularly with the ball to give us a semi-chance. But in the end we probably 20 or 30 runs short."
Opting to bat first after winning what had been billed as a vital toss, New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori would have had his sights set on a score in the vicinity of 250.
His side bgan positively but once again lost Brendon McCullum early when he was bowled by Sri Lankan spinner Rananga Herath for 13 while attempting to sweep.
Utilising their world-class spinners wonderfully, the hosts made runs difficult to come by, time and again strangling the New Zealand batsman of opportunities to score.
After sound starts, Jesse Ryder and Martin Guptill were both dismissed by the 23rd over.
The Black Caps, at 84-3, kept the scoreboard ticking over through Ross Taylor and Scott Styris before Taylor impatiently tried to clear the mid-wicket boundary fence in the 35th over and was caught for 36 from 55.
Styris brought up his half century two overs later and had to become the innings mainstay when Kane Williamson was trapped in front for 22 by Lasith Malinga.
However, the last five wickets tumbled for just 25 runs, including Styris for an innings-high 57 off 77. They failed to bat out their innings, felled with seven balls remaining.
While it was almost an identical total to the one they posted and defended in beating South Africa, the Sri Lankans - at the same ground where they thrashed England by 10 wickets last week in front of their passionate supporters - were always going to be a more difficult prospect.
Scoreboard
New Zealand innings
M. Guptill b Malinga 39
B. McCullum b Herath 13
J. Ryder c Sangakkara b Muralitharan 19
R. Taylor c Tharanga b Mendis 36
S. Styris lbw b Muralitharan 57
K. Williamson lbw b Malinga 22
N. McCullum c Sangakkara b Malinga 9
J. Oram c Jayawardene b Dilshan 7
D. Vettori not out 3
T. Southee c Sangakkara b Mendis 0
A. McKay b Mendis 0
Extras (lb 5 w 6 nb 1) 12
Total (all out; 48.5 overs) 217
Fall of wickets: 1-32 2-69 3-84 4-161 5-192 6-204 7-213 8-215 9-217
Bowling: L. Malinga 9-0-55-3 (1nb), R. Herath 9-1-31-1 (1w), A. Mathews 6-0-27-0, A. Mendis 9.5-0-35-3, M. Muralitharan 10-1-42-2 (2w), T. Dilshan 5-0-22-1 (1w)
Sri Lanka innings
U Tharanga c Ryder b Southee 30
T Dilshan c Ryder b Southee 73
K Sangakkara c Styris b McKay 54
M Jayawardene lbw b Vettori 1
T Samaraweera not out 23
L Silva b Southee 13
A Mathews not out 14
Extras (2b, 10w)
Total (5 wtks, 47.5 oversovers)
Fall of wickets: 1-40 2-160 3-161 4-169 5-185
Bowling: N McCullum 6-0-33-0 (1w), T Southee 10-2-57-3 (1w), D Vettori 10-0-36-1, J Oram 8-1-29-0,
A McKay 9.5-1-37-1 (2w), S Styris 2-0-12-0, J Ryder 2-0-14-0
Result: Sri Lanka win by 5 wickets
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment