In the biggest upset of the tournament till now, overwhelming favourites & host England made a mess of a relatively easy chase to hand Sri Lanka an improbable victory by 20 runs, throwing the competition wide open.
Chasing a seemingly easy target of 233 runs, England were jolted right at the beginning, losing openers Bairstow in the second ball of the innings, & then Vince in the 7th over, with just 26 runs on board. Root & Morgan steadied the innings, & though Morgan left in the 19th over with score at 73, Root dug deep to reach his 5th fifty plus score in 6 innings in this tournament - his calm & composed presence held the English chase well on course, despite slow progress. However, once he departed in the 31st over for a well made 57 runs, it triggered a dramatic collapse, as the Lankan bowlers conjured & consumed wickets at steady intervals. When Jofra Archer skied Udana only to be caught at long on in the 44th over, the score read 186 for 9, & suddenly England were staring into the barrel, still needing 47 runs in six overs, with Ben Stokes at the other end batting on 57 runs. More drama followed, as Stokes, surviving a drop catch at midwicket off Malinga in the very next over, decided to take charge & smote 2 sixes, as Udana was taken for 15 runs. In the 47th over, Pradeep went for two boundaries, as the gap reduced to just 21 runs off 19 deliveries, & Ben Stokes looked in command to win single handedly. But that was not to be, as the famous English Lady Luck deserted, & Mark Wood nicked behind, to leave England all out for 212, & Ben Stokes stranded for unbeaten 82 runs. English batting, which had gone past 300 runs eight times in their last nine innings, stuttered today to end up losers by 20 runs, as the home crowd looked aghast.
Earlier, Sri Lanka, electing to bat first. lost both openers with just 3 runs on board, before Fernando & Mendis did the repair work. Both missed deserving fifties, while others perished cheaply, as veteran Mathews held one end up with a fighting innings of unbeaten 85 runs, to take the team total upto 232. It was certainly a below par score & at that stage, looked a simple task for the in form English batting unit. Jofra Archer & Mark Wood took 3 wickets apiece, while Rashid took 2, as the Lankan batting struggled for runs throughout. Archer now joins Starc at the top of the wicket taking tally with 15 wickets.
For the Lankans, today, there were many heroes. Lasith Malinga conjured his old magic to claim 4 wickets, while part time spinner, de Silva pinched three crucial wickets within 9 deliveries, Udana picked up two wickets with his disguised left handed pace & also grabbed to sharp catches, as Pradeep bowled frugally throughout & then picked up the last wicket, as the Lankan supporters erupted in joy. Man of Match, Malinga became the 4th bowler to claim 50 + wickets in World Cup, after McGrath, Murali & Wasim Akram.
England face a tricky situation, as they are up against Australia, India & New Zealand in their last three games - teams whom they have not defeated in World Cup for the last 27 years !!!! - Sri Lanka on the other hand face a depleted South Africa in their next game & would certainly fancy their chances - funny how things can change in cricket - a game of uncertainties
Chasing a seemingly easy target of 233 runs, England were jolted right at the beginning, losing openers Bairstow in the second ball of the innings, & then Vince in the 7th over, with just 26 runs on board. Root & Morgan steadied the innings, & though Morgan left in the 19th over with score at 73, Root dug deep to reach his 5th fifty plus score in 6 innings in this tournament - his calm & composed presence held the English chase well on course, despite slow progress. However, once he departed in the 31st over for a well made 57 runs, it triggered a dramatic collapse, as the Lankan bowlers conjured & consumed wickets at steady intervals. When Jofra Archer skied Udana only to be caught at long on in the 44th over, the score read 186 for 9, & suddenly England were staring into the barrel, still needing 47 runs in six overs, with Ben Stokes at the other end batting on 57 runs. More drama followed, as Stokes, surviving a drop catch at midwicket off Malinga in the very next over, decided to take charge & smote 2 sixes, as Udana was taken for 15 runs. In the 47th over, Pradeep went for two boundaries, as the gap reduced to just 21 runs off 19 deliveries, & Ben Stokes looked in command to win single handedly. But that was not to be, as the famous English Lady Luck deserted, & Mark Wood nicked behind, to leave England all out for 212, & Ben Stokes stranded for unbeaten 82 runs. English batting, which had gone past 300 runs eight times in their last nine innings, stuttered today to end up losers by 20 runs, as the home crowd looked aghast.
Earlier, Sri Lanka, electing to bat first. lost both openers with just 3 runs on board, before Fernando & Mendis did the repair work. Both missed deserving fifties, while others perished cheaply, as veteran Mathews held one end up with a fighting innings of unbeaten 85 runs, to take the team total upto 232. It was certainly a below par score & at that stage, looked a simple task for the in form English batting unit. Jofra Archer & Mark Wood took 3 wickets apiece, while Rashid took 2, as the Lankan batting struggled for runs throughout. Archer now joins Starc at the top of the wicket taking tally with 15 wickets.
For the Lankans, today, there were many heroes. Lasith Malinga conjured his old magic to claim 4 wickets, while part time spinner, de Silva pinched three crucial wickets within 9 deliveries, Udana picked up two wickets with his disguised left handed pace & also grabbed to sharp catches, as Pradeep bowled frugally throughout & then picked up the last wicket, as the Lankan supporters erupted in joy. Man of Match, Malinga became the 4th bowler to claim 50 + wickets in World Cup, after McGrath, Murali & Wasim Akram.
England face a tricky situation, as they are up against Australia, India & New Zealand in their last three games - teams whom they have not defeated in World Cup for the last 27 years !!!! - Sri Lanka on the other hand face a depleted South Africa in their next game & would certainly fancy their chances - funny how things can change in cricket - a game of uncertainties
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment
I would appreciate all feedback on this post from you.