Sri Lanka steamrolled New Zealand in a Super 10 Match, and secured a berth in the T20 World Cup semi-finals. The feat was possible due to Rangana Herath, left arm spinner who gave only 3 runs for 5 wickets. The knock out match was turned on its head when Herath seized the opportunity to grab 5 wickets for 3 runs. His sensational spell was also coupled with his role in a run out. His contribution made it possible for Sri Lanka to defend a total of 119 only in their final group 1 game.
New Zealand was bowled out within 15.3 overs for only 60 runs, which is also the third lowest total in the international history of the T20 format. Herath’s figures of 5/3 are the third best ever in the T20 Internationals. He ranks right after team mate AjanthaMedis who holds the record of 6/8 and 6/16.
Today’s result made Sri Lanka finish on top of the Group 1 table, tying with South Africa at 6 points. They have been placed ahead of South Africa on the basis of net run rate. This marks the end of the team’s matches in the Super 10 section. The feat was achieved in the ZahurAhmen Chowdhury Stadium.
The team that Sri Lanka will be up against shall be decided after tomorrows match between Pakistan and West Indies, which will indicate the runners up for Group 2. India was the winner of Group 2 and will take on South Africa, the runner up of Group 1. The former match is to be held on 3rd April while the latter one will take place on 4th April. Both the games are to be held in Mirpur.
New Zealand’s fortunes took a browbeating after their star player Corey Anderson was rushed to the hospital for dislocating a finger while trying to catch the ball during Sri Lanka’s innings. Anderson did not come out to bat in the second innings. It seemed New Zealand had secured a spot in the semis as they were chasing a modest total of 120 runs. They began to a quick start by scoring 18 runs by the end of the second over.
The third over was handed over to Herath who worked his magic in the first ball itself. He caught the ball that was hit by Martin Guptill who ran for a single without receiving a response from fellow batsman Kane Williamson. Herath threw the ball back to Kumar Sangakkara the wicket keeper who dropped the bail within a blink.
Five balls later, Captain Brendan McCullum was also stumped out by Sangakkara as he had misjudged the ball’s delivery. In his second over, Herath dismissed Jimmy Neesham and Ross Taylor for zero runs in two back-to-back deliveries in the sixth over and New Zealand had to take two steps back.
New Zealand was at 23 runs for 4 wickets lost when Herath bowled two maiden overs. Senanayake, off spinner, claimed the wicket of Nathan McCullum which brought up the score tally to 33 for 6 for New Zealand.
On the side of New Zealand, Boult and Neesham both claimed 3 wickets apiece to topple over the top and bottom order of the Sri Lankan line up.
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England has not had a good run on the cricket pitch this winter. As if losing the Ashes at 5-0 was not enough, the team lost to Netherlands by a margin of 45 runs at the World T20 tournament. This is perhaps the most humiliating time for the veteran cricketing team.
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| Netherland beats England |
The loss to Netherland can be termed as the worst time in England’s cricketing history. The team from England comprising of first class cricketers lost to a team of relative novices who would probably not make it into county XI. This defeat has ensured the exit of the team from the World T20 cup being played in Bangladesh. The next tournament that the team will participate in would be against Scotland and would be played in Aberdeen.
The team will now probably appoint a new coach. The top job of coaching the team might not be handed over to Ashley Giles. He was the coach for limited overs and he failed to mask England’s half-hearted attempts at the game against a team which qualified for the Super 10 on the last leg of the group matches. Both the teams had been eliminated from the tournament even before this match was played.
Giles has commented that the team’s performance was not good and it was embarrassing and unacceptable. Social networking websites are abuzz with the shocking performance of the English team. In a week or two, England is due to appointing a new head coach. Most followers of the game believe he is not the best person to have the job for his lack of experience.
Giles felt disappointed to see his side being bowled out 88 runs within 17.4 overs. However, from the way the match was played it seemed as if the team had no will or yearn to win the game in the first place.
The Dutch had a quick start which meant bad news for England. The team regrouped to restrict the opponents at 133 runs for 5 wickets lost. When the English team’s time to field came, their approach was casual and by the time they realized how deeply they had sunk their heels in a loss, there was very little left that could be done. Pulls were missed and drives were errant.
This was not the first time that the English team faced defeat at the hands of the Dutch team. Holland defeated England in the World T20 2009 at the Lord’s stadium although it went on till the last ball.
Two of the opening English batsmen were able to reach double digit runs, but once Michael Lumb was out in the third over, the team seemed to have given up. The Dutch team took the game more seriously and fielded tight and bowled well.
In the past few outings of the English team, it won only 5 matches while losing 18 others. It includes ODIs, Tests and T20 matches. Giles’ ability to prepare the team in the right frame of mind for a game would be discussed at his interview for becoming head coach.
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