New Zealand crumble to Sri Lankan pace
A batting masterpiece and a fast-bowling barrage. It isn't often that a team can combine both of those forces in one night, but Sri Lanka had all of that going for them and more
The Bulletin by Jamie Alter
08-Sep-2009
Sri Lanka 216 for 7 (Samaraweera 104, Mathews 51, Bond 3-43) beat
New Zealand 119 (Elliott 41, Malinga 4-28) by 97 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
A batting masterpiece and a fast-bowling barrage. It isn't often that a team
can combine both of those forces in one night, but Sri Lanka had all of that, and more,
going for them. Thilan Samaraweera compiled
a superlative maiden one-day century and Lasith Malinga ripped New
Zealand's middle order to shreds as the hosts launched the series with a
thumping win, bonus point included.
When Sri Lanka were restricted to 216, it seemed a tight contest was on the cards;
instead New Zealand folded for 119, sending the smattering of spectators
home early. Sri Lanka's innings had been resurrected from 69 for 5 by
Samaraweera and Angelo
Mathews, but New Zealand never recovered after Sri Lanka's fast bowlers
sliced through the order.
Within 29 balls, Jesse Ryder (0), Martin Guptill (3) and Ross Taylor (2)
were left brooding in the dressing room. New Zealand's shot at victory had
been squashed and any self-belief that lingered after the Tests now
vanished.
And Sri Lanka weren't done. Malinga is hardly the man you want to see with the ball when your top order has been blown away, and what followed was stunning. With his first three
overs, comprising deliveries on all sorts of lengths, Malinga kept the
batsmen tied down. The fourth was something out of a shooting gallery.
Brendon McCullum had run the risk of being arrested for loitering as he
squeezed 14 from 51 balls before Malinga rattled his stumps. Two deliveries
later Malinga held back his length and drew an edge off Jacob Oram's bat to
Kumar Sangakkara. With his next ball, Malinga hurled down a corker that went
right through debutant Nathan McCullum.
At 41 for 6 in the 19th over, this game was as good as done. The only
batsmen to cross 14 were Grant Elliott, with a brave 41, and Ian Butler,
whose efforts lessened the margin of defeat. Completing the rout with
another yorker was Malinga, whose aggressive bowling had undoubtedly been
fuelled by Samaraweera's inspirational batting.
Samaraweera, whose highest ODI score coming into this match was 38 not out,
teamed up with Mathews and averted a meek surrender with a 127-run
association from 134 balls. The pair combined exceptional running between
the wickets with some fireworks to help Sri Lanka reach a total that looked
remote when they began.
Conventional wisdom and statistics at the Premadasa suggest strongly you
bat first in day-night matches, and when Sangakkara won the toss it was
greeted with loud cheers as the crowd anticipated a quick start. But this
was an unusual two-paced track that didn't encourage for blazing shots and
Sri Lanka slipped to 22 for 3.
Tuffey's reputation as a first-over specialist preceded him on his
international return, and it was a special wicket to celebrate too, as
Tillakarate Dilshan chopped on. Bond dismissed Mahela Jayawardene for 0,
steering a rising delivery to slip, and Sanath Jayasuriya for 7, slashing to
third man. Vettori eased Bond back into this format with five tight overs (2
for 9) and Tuffey's consummate spell of 1 for 19 off six overs made for a
clinical start with the ball. Tuffey and Bond bowled very straight and
shackled the Sri Lankan top order, and the fielders were energetic and
predatory as well.
There were only two boundaries by the half-way mark - both inside the first
three overs - and a run rate of 2.72 indicated how much Sri Lanka had
struggled. Almost immediately, Samaraweera and Mathews began to build some
momentum, unfazed by the nature of the track and energetically hunting for
scoring possibilities. A boundaryless streak, lasting 143 deliveries, was
soon snapped.
Mathews played his most fluent innings in recent memory. He timed the ball
well from the start, getting off the mark with a straight drive off Daniel
Vettori, and then placed the ball far more deftly than he had in the
Twenty20s. Between overs 33 and 38 the pair added 35, running hard between
the wickets and taking runs off Butler, prompting Vettori to call back
Tuffey. Samaraweera, who had reached his half-century off 78 balls, cleanly
lofted and paddled boundaries to get the small crowd cheering.
In the first over of the batting Powerplay, taken after 44 overs,
Samaraweera turned it on: he brought up the century stand in 114 balls with
a spanking cover drive off Butler, repeated the shot a touch squarer, and
paddled four more past short fine leg. Bond returned to bowl Mathews for 51,
but Samaraweera achieved his watershed landmark. It was exceptional batting
and got Sri Lanka to a total far beyond what New Zealand would have liked.
Vettori now has a few days to raise his players' morale. It will be
difficult after such a comprehensive defeat, especially against India. New
Zealand's next game - and potentially last - game is on Friday. They can, at
best, hope to look forward to a new pitch.
Jamie Alter is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo