Lankan Lions Flatter And
Fail As The Heavens Open Up In Port Elizabeth.
Top Spin By Suni
Lions flattered and failed as even Lady Luck deserted them at St Georges,
Port Elizabeth SA in the semifinal game of the 2003 World Cup against
Australia.
First the luck of the toss was denied them and later the top order
batting crumbling to Brett Lee's scorchers despite a slower than previous
wicket which had many wondering in amazement that Lee could still trundle
down a thunderbold or two on this so called blander wicket by comparison
and catch the batsmen unawares at times with a very jerky looking faster
ball delivered with a javelin thrower's action which the umpires seemed
to be tolerant of but it were the Lankans who had themselves to blame
primarily as this was a game which appeared to be in the bag after a
fine concerted team effort to dismiss the Aussies for 212 with the very
impressive Lankan batting line up on tap whose indifferent batting once
again left them high and dry.
The Aussies having decided to go in first were tied down by the Lankan
attack of Vaas, Muralidaran, De Silva and Jayasuriya who bowled with
great heart and effort to pin down the Aussie batsmen and might have
been in dire straits had an easy stumping chance of Symonds not been
missed byan over enthusiastic Sangakkara who failed to collect cleanly
when Symonds was in his 30s who went on to score a magnificient 91 which
could well have been the turning point of the game.Gilchrist 22, Hayden
20, Lehman 36 and Bichel 19 n.o.were the other contributors towards
the Aussies total, meagre by comparison with expectations yet sufficient
to coast through to the semis as the heavens opened up and left the
Lankans in reply stranded on 123 for 7 and 15 overs to go with Sangakkara
and Vaas together who appeared to be inching towards a last ditch effort
to salvage the game eventually decided by the questionable Duckworth/Lewis
method as a replay was ruled out on the basis that Sri Lanka had batted
for more than 25 overs which saw to it that the 'kangaroos' were home
by 48 runs courtesy of Duckworth / Lewis. Sri Lanka's run rate was badly
lagging after the middle order collapse and nowhere near the D/L stipulation.
Sri Lanka started off rather cautiously but soon saw Atapattu and Jayasuriya
get into stride with some confident strokeplay which was shortlived
when a Lee delivery of uneven bounce whick kept a trifle low got past
Atapattu to rattle his off stump to his bewilderment and the Aussies
were in further ecstacies when Jayasuriya followed caught off McGrath
which continued throughout the sombre afternoon as wickets fell at regular
intervals to the groans of the Lankan crowd whose apprehensions grew
as the game progressed as they watched their favourites in all kinds
of trouble especially with the Brett Lee express! and their hopes of
a final with India in tatters
Avishka Jayawardena and Hashan Tillekeratne in particular seemed to
be bothered by Lee and fell to two great catches by Gilchrist and Ponting.
Aravinda de Silva began with a flourish with his impeccable timing of
the ball and together with Sangakkara started what appeared to be a
recovery of sorts as both were settling down when disaster struck again
for the Lankans as Aravinda by no means a sprinter was stranded out
of his ground by a brilliant pick up and throw by Bichel in a direct
hit perhaps the second turning point of the game and the death knell
had sounded for Sri Lanka.
Mahela Jayawardena restored to the side after sitting out the previous
game the opened his account with an impressive hit to the onside boundary
but was trapped by Hogg in the same over as his misfortunes continued
caught off bat and glove by the keeper as he wound his weary way crestfallen
back to the pavilion.
Arnold seemed all concentration and appeared to be digging in when for
no accountable reason went for a big hit, top edged and was caught in
the deep and the rest is history as Vaas and Sangakkara both batting
confidently were together when the rains came and Sri Lanka's chances
were snuffed out and up the creek without a paddle!
Here then was a game more squandered than lost to an overwhelming opposition
where a lost toss, a missed stumping chance and a silly runout might
have made all the difference towards a huge Sri Lankan upset where they
had their quarry within their sites but fired wide through sheer carelessness
and apathy more than anything else but to give credit to the Aussies
with their brilliant ground fielding, fiery Brett Lee insignia , the
great knock by Symonds who now has a phenomenal average and the fierce
concentration despite a moderate total which proved adequate in the
end theirs is much deserved berth to meet India in the Final.
Sri Lanka now return home to' face the music ' or so it seems as there
will be many dissapointed fans and pundits who might believe they did
not give it their all which to a degree might seem to be the case but
there seems to be a greater implication on the Administrative Staff
and the Selectors of the BCCSL who have through many bad decisions and
sometimes indiscretions towards what transpired with the Lankans in
this World Cup who came this close ( of course with a bit of luck too!
) but were never disgraced as they are a team of wonderful players some
of whom are brilliant performers and Congratulations Boys despite the
setbacks, you have done quite well and in all honesty instilled fear
in many opponents !
Shape up for Sharjah next if circumstances afford it due to the instabilities
in the region and continue your trend as the Fighting Lankan Lions.
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