World Of Cricket

Calcutta:  On 13th march 1996 Srilanka played India in the World-cup Semi-final in Calcutta which in the end turned out to be a very embarrassing day for Indian cricket.

Crowd reacts on India’s dismal performance / © Getty Images

Srilanka qualified for the World Cup final for the first time and went on to win it in Lahore. Srilanka played India before reaching to the final. After loss of their openers early Arvinda D’Silva held the innings together and pushed Srilanka’s final total to 250 leaving 251 for India to chase.

India’s chase was not good from start but it turned worst from their as the fans in the stadium showed their anger by burning the stands and throwing bottles at the players. Match Referee had to eventually take a decision and gave Srilanka a much deserved victory as India were never in the game. India made 120/8 in their 34.1 overs.

Only Sachin Tendulkar made over 50 for them. Srilanka later in the tournament went on to win it as Arvinda D’Silva scored century in the final to give Srilanka its first World Cup win ever in Lahore. After 1996 World Cup Srilanka has appeared in World-Cup finals for 2 times but did not win it.

Galle: Bangladesh achieved their first ever draw against Sri Lanka in a record fest.

“We wanted to give it back to them” Rahim © AFP

Day 5 of this run fest was no different to the previous days as it saw two more centuries which took the tally to a total of eight in the match equaling the world record locked in West Indies and South Africa in Antigua in 2005. Being their first ever drawn test match against Srilanka, the Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim called it “a huge achievement”.

It was the first time Bangladesh posted a total over 600 in a test match and batted 196 overs, the longest they have advocated since getting their test status, back in 2000.

“Our past record against Sri Lanka definitely motivated us. For instance, they have scored 19 or 20 centuries against us. We stressed on the fact that this is a big opportunity for us. We thought this is a chance for us to make them work hard on the field as we batted on and on.

“The team that often keeps you in the field for days that beat you regularly, we wanted to give it back to them. I think they are shocked, because they couldn’t imagine we would play well.” Said, the Bangladesh captain.

Pitch was nothing more than batting paradise, as 1613 runs were scored for just 19 wickets. . It was the first time Kumar Sangakara posted 2 tons in a test match. Srilanka placed a respectable 570/4 dec in the first innings, and 335/4 in the second innings respectively. Assigning a target of 268 that was to be chased in one session. First wicket of Anamul Haque came early, but the game was later on controlled well by Jahurul and Mohammad Ashraful who took the score to 70 by 4pm, The game was later called off as expected.

“The team that often keeps you in the field for days that beat you regularly, we wanted to give it back to them. I think they are shocked, because they couldn’t imagine we would play well.”

The captain pointed out the different players who had made contributions, mostly with the bat, an end result that is relatively new to him in Tests. “We need a pen and paper to write down the positives in this Test. We had the team’s highest score, Ashraful and my highest scores, Mominul’s debut fifty, Nasir’s maiden 100. I think this was also the highest score in Galle.” Said the Bangladesh captain.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board had also announced allurements for the team players for drawing Tests and taking games into the fifth day. The team will now get an $1250 for drawing the Galle Test apart from their match fees. Mushfiqur Rahim was awarded as Man of the Match. “It is really enjoyable, the team is playing very well together. We didn’t really bowl well first up, so we had a chat that we need to show character and then our batsmen did really well. The draw is huge, it was also the first time we took lead against Sri Lanka.” He added.

This test match again showed the massive improvement of Bangladesh since Asia cup. But Credit goes to Bangladesh players for showing immense patience that is needed to survive in Test Cricket. All in all a moral victory for Bengal Tigers.

The first test between Bangladesh and Srilanka ends in a draw after it witnessed eight centuries in it.

Mushfiqur Rahim beacame first Bangladeshi to score double century © AFP

Many thought that after first innings Srilanka’s score of 570 it will only be the matter of time before Bangladesh folds, but it was not the case. The first test match became a paradise for batsmen as there were eight centuries scored in the match.

Srilanka won the toss early in the test and choose to bat. Their batsmen proved the desicion right as Srilanka compiled a huge 1st innings score of 570. Sangakkara, Thirimanne and Chandimal scored centuries for them.

It looked a one sided match from there on but Bangladeshi boys had other plans. Their openers left the middle but after that Bangladesh walked towards the record. They scored over 600 runs for the first time in Test matches. Their main contributers was their captain Mushfiqur Rahim who scored his first test double century. Ashraful and Nasir Hossain also scored their centuries.

In the second innings Srilanka tried to attack and win the match but it was not possible. But their were 2 more centuries still to come as Dilshan and Sangakkara made 126 and 105 respectively.

Srilanka declared their innings at 335 and left 268 runs for Bangladesh to chase. Bangladesh scored 70 for 1 in their second innings and the match ended in a draw. Bangladesh would be feeling proud of their efforts as they made Srilanks sweat.  Mushfiqur Rahim for his fine innings was declared man of the match.

Adelaide: Sri Lanka defeated Australia in the 2nd ODI by 8 wickets, thanks to the century of Thirimanne and amazing performance by its bowlers.

Lahiru Thirimanne is congratulated by Kushal Perera for his century, Australia v Sri Lanka, 2nd ODI, Adelaide, January 13, 2013 © Getty Images

Mahela Jayawardene, captain of Sri Lanka won the toss & decided to bowl first in overcast conditions. This proved to be a good decision for Sri Lankans who were down & out in the on-going tour. Angelo Mathews drew first blood by taking the wicket of Finch in 4th over which triggered the collapse. Hughes was the next one to go, when he was trapped by Kulasekara in front of the stumps for lbw shout.

Australia captain George Bailey scored 26 before chipping a catch to Thirimanne. David Hussey got run-out just when he was looking good, he made 29.

Smith & Maxwell didn’t last long & scored 8 each. Brad Haddin who was playing this series for Australia after a long long time proved to be a barrage for Sri Lankans, he stood and delivered for Australia by scoring 50 off 67 with 4 FOURS & 1 huge SIX. Ben Cutting supported him for a while by scoring 27 off 45.

Team Australia somehow managed to scored 170 in 46.5 overs. Lasith Malinga took 3-32 in 9 overs whereas Mathews, Perera took 2, 2 wickets & Kulasekara with Ajantha bagged 1 wicket each.

When Sri Lanka came out to bat, it was looking a cheesy chase for them but Clint McKay removed Upul Tharanga on the 3rd ball his first over. This brought 23 year old Thirimanne on the crease who took his time with senior Dilshan & then hit hard.

Ex-captain Dilshan scored 51 off 88 balls (4 FOURS) & was caught out by Maxwell at the ball of Cutting. Perera came in & only 33 runs were required to win.

Thirimanne completed 1st century of his international career & took Sri Lanka to huge victory. He remained not-out at 102 (134 balls faced , 12 FOURS hit) with Perera at 14.

Sri Lanka confidently won the 1st match of the tour after 4 losses. Is this the game they were looking to boost their morale? Still three matches to go in the series and time will tell us who’s better. The next match will be played at Brisbane on January 18th.

Bird’s-eye View:

Australia: 170/10 in 46.5 overs.
Sri Lanka: 171/2 in 40.1 overs.

Result: Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets.
Man Of The Match: Lahiru Thirimanne (Sri Lanka).

Hambantota: The hosts Sri Lanka will be the one to start the ICC World Twenty20 2012 against Zimbabwe. Huge crowed is expected as the home team will be looking to mark impressive victory.

ICC World Twenty20 2012 – Match 1 : Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe

Visit special page dedicated to ICC World Twenty20 2012 for latest news, photos, points table and more …

Sri Lankan team under the command of Mahela Jayawardene are ready to send a strong message to all the participants by winning the starter whereas Zimbabwe under the leadership of Brendan Taylor; the least favourite of winning the tournament is determined to upset the hosts.

The sizzler, the yorker specialist; yes the Malinga will be a treat to watch as his fans all around the world are expecting his toe crushers. From Zimbabwean side, it’ll be their captain Taylor from which not only their fans but also players of opposite teams are expecting a good fight, both as a captain and as a batsman.

Probable XI for Sri Lanka:

Dilshan Munaweera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis, Akila Dananjaya.

Probable XI for Zimbabwe:

Hamilton Masakadza, Vusi Sibanda, Brendan Taylor, Craig Ervine, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Elton Chigumbura/ Malcolm Waller, Prosper Utseya Graeme Cremer, Richard Muzhange, Kyle Jarvis, Chris Mpofu.

Weather situation:

Showers are expected in the morning and afternoon but at night when the match will start, it’ll be partly cloudy.

At the time of match: 27°C – 96% humidity – visibility will be good

Pitch Condition:

It may have something for seamers but not much turn for spinners. Matches played here have been low scoring but because of the explosive batsmen in the Sri Lankan line-up we can expect a high scoring game (if SL bats first). Boundaries have been made shorter because of the T20 mode.

What mind of captains speaks?

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said: “Having looked at the wicket I’m pretty confident that it will be much better than what it has been, and there should be plenty of runs.”

Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor said: ”We’ve got some good strikers in the top order, some good spinners and young, talented fast bowlers that will bowl well at the death. If we get those things right, it will be tough for Sri Lanka.”

worldocricket.com prediction:

Sri Lanka will beat Zimbabwe easily by huge margin of either runs or wickets.

Kandy: Pakistan has started series with flying colours as they defeated Sri Lanka by 6 wickets (D/L method) in a match which was interrupted by rain several times.

Pakistan's Umar Gul (2nd L) celebrates with teammates taking the wicket of Sri Lanka's captain Mahela Jayawardene during their first One Day International (ODI) in Pallekele June 7, 2012 © Reuters

Captain of Sri Lanka, Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and decided to bat first. It was a surprise decision as it was raining continuously for some days and the conditions were damp too.

Pakistani fast bowlers Umar Gul and Sohail Tanvir ripped-off the Sri Lankan top order and froze the flow of runs. Dilshan (5) got out by playing a stupid shot. Jayawardene was given a lucky break by umpires who gave a poor decision without seeing all camera replays, he was caught out on Tanvir’s delivery but question was whether his foot landed behind the line or on the line, umpires saw the 1st replay camera angle which wasn’t clear and showed that Tanvir’s foot was over the mark and gave signal of no-ball. But later television replays from different camera angles showed that the foot of Tanvir was landed just before the line/mark and Mahela must had been given out.

Gul in the next overs took the revenge and beat Jayawardene (3) with pace and swing. The ball came back sharply and umpire didn’t hesitate in raising his finger for giving lbw. The pressure which Pakistan had built on Sri Lanka’s batting resulted into another wicket when Chandimal (0) played one back onto stumps, Umar Gul was the bowler once again.

The misery continued for Sri Lanka as their another top class batsmen Kumar Sangakkara after scoring 9 runs off 31 balls got out to the yorker of fast and furious Mohammad Sami.

Fall of Mathews wicket added salt to the wounds of Lankan Loins. Thrimanne tried to become a wall in front of Pakistani bowling line-up but Thanaga left him after getting out at the ball of M. Sami.

Perera tried to become the bridge between the score and Sri Lanka by supporting Thrimanne. Couple of interruptions confused Pakistani captain Misbah-ul-Haq as he tried to use his spinners against them but didn’t get things very fine. Part time spinner Mohammad Hafeez who is now at no.4 in ICC ODI bowlers got rid of Perera (17) with an arm-ball.

Kulasekara extended the stay of Sri Lanka by adding 18 vital runs but he was caught out by Tanvir at the ball of M. Sami. Lahiru Thrimanne remained not-out at 42 with Herath; who faced only 1 ball but didn’t score.

8 overs were deducted because of the interruptions caused by rain. Sri Lanka ended up with the score of 135/8 in 42.0 overs. Pakistan who started with flying colours scrapped their performance by giving 31 extras (lb 7, w 23, nb 1) and dropping 4 catches. Sri Lankan top order once again misfired and put the weight on middle and lower order.

Umar Gul and Mohammad Sami took 3, 3 wickets whereas Mohammad Hafeez took 2 wickets. Bowling figures of Pakistani bowlers were pretty economical.

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Pakistan started the chase with Mohammad Hafeez and Azhar Ali. Both openers adopted cautious approach as ball was wobbling. This approach cost Pakistan when Azhar Ali gave his wicket to an ordinary delivery of Malinga, it was going away and Ali tried to slice it but the scenario ended with a catch in the gloves of wicket-keeper Sangakkara.

Stay of Younis Khan was not small, he stayed at the wicket for 23 min. , faced 16 balls but scored only 5 runs. He fell to a beautiful delivery of Nuwan Kulasekara. The score of Pakistan was 27/2 in 7.1 overs.

Once again captain Misbah-ul-Haq came in to rescue Pakistan from this situation. He build partnership with Mohammad Hafeez and also gave him confidence in raising his arms. He kept blocking the deliveries but on couple of occasions struck handsome boundaries.

Mohammad Hafeez after settling on the crease played some fine shots but unfortunately got stumped. His foot was on the line and 3rd umpire gave him out at the ball of Herath. Before getting out he scored 37 runs off 57 balls in his stay of 95 minutes and struck 5 FOURS & 1 SIX.

Young Umar Akmal came in to finish the things, he took the bowlers on and slashed them hard. It was an eye-catching moment to see two generations on crease, at one end there was 37-year old Misbah-ul-Haq and on other end there was 22-year old Umar Akmal. Both supported each other and played their game in favour of Pakistan.

Just when Pakistan was at the brink of victory, Misbah-ul-Haq got run-out. He faced 79 balls, stayed at the crease for 119 minutes, struck 4 FOURS to score 30 runs. His innings gave Pakistan a stability which was the team was looking for in uncertain situation.

His departure brought BOOM BOOM Afridi on the crease who clinched the victory for Pakistan by taking 2 runs. Umar Akmal also remained not-out at 36 runs including 6 FOURS which he scored off 48 balls.

Pakistan chased the target of 135 in 34.1 overs and sacrificed 4 wickets. Sri Lankan bowlers gave 22 extras (b 2, lb 13, w 6, nb 1). Malinga, Kulasekara and Herath bagged 1 wicket each.

Umpiring standards were down to earth as umpires gave several wrong decisions. The 2nd ODI will be played here again at Pallekele on June 09, 2012.

Result: Pakistan won by 6 wickets.

Man Of The Match: Umar Gul (Pakistan).