A batting masterpiece and a fast-bowling barrage. It isn’t often that a teamcan combine both of those forces in one night, but Sri Lanka had all of thatgoing for them and more
The Bulletin by Jamie Alter08-Sep-2009
Scorecard andball-by-ball details
How they were out
Thilan Samaraweera’s 104 was a huge improvement over his previous highest ODI score of 38•AFP
A batting masterpiece and a fast-bowling barrage. It isn’t often that a teamcan combine both of those forces in one night, but Sri Lanka had all of that, and more,going for them. Thilan Samaraweera compileda superlative maiden one-day century and Lasith Malinga ripped NewZealand’s middle order to shreds as the hosts launched the series with athumping 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 spectatorshome early. Sri Lanka’s innings had been resurrected from 69 for 5 bySamaraweera and AngeloMathews, but New Zealand never recovered after Sri Lanka’s fast bowlerssliced 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 hadbeen squashed and any self-belief that lingered after the Tests nowvanished.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 threeovers, comprising deliveries on all sorts of lengths, Malinga kept thebatsmen tied down. The fourth was something out of a shooting gallery.Brendon McCullum had run the risk of being arrested for loitering as hesqueezed 14 from 51 balls before Malinga rattled his stumps. Two deliverieslater Malinga held back his length and drew an edge off Jacob Oram’s bat toKumar Sangakkara. With his next ball, Malinga hurled down a corker that wentright through debutant Nathan McCullum.At 41 for 6 in the 19th over, this game was as good as done. The onlybatsmen to cross 14 were Grant Elliott, with a brave 41, and Ian Butler,whose efforts lessened the margin of defeat. Completing the rout withanother yorker was Malinga, whose aggressive bowling had undoubtedly beenfuelled 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-runassociation from 134 balls. The pair combined exceptional running betweenthe wickets with some fireworks to help Sri Lanka reach a total that lookedremote when they began.Conventional wisdom and statistics at the Premadasa suggest strongly youbat first in day-night matches, and when Sangakkara won the toss it wasgreeted with loud cheers as the crowd anticipated a quick start. But thiswas an unusual two-paced track that didn’t encourage for blazing shots andSri Lanka slipped to 22 for 3.Tuffey’s reputation as a first-over specialist preceded him on hisinternational return, and it was a special wicket to celebrate too, asTillakarate Dilshan chopped on. Bond dismissed Mahela Jayawardene for 0,steering a rising delivery to slip, and Sanath Jayasuriya for 7, slashing tothird man. Vettori eased Bond back into this format with five tight overs (2for 9) and Tuffey’s consummate spell of 1 for 19 off six overs made for aclinical start with the ball. Tuffey and Bond bowled very straight andshackled the Sri Lankan top order, and the fielders were energetic andpredatory as well.There were only two boundaries by the half-way mark – both inside the firstthree overs – and a run rate of 2.72 indicated how much Sri Lanka hadstruggled. Almost immediately, Samaraweera and Mathews began to build somemomentum, unfazed by the nature of the track and energetically hunting forscoring possibilities. A boundaryless streak, lasting 143 deliveries, wassoon snapped.Mathews played his most fluent innings in recent memory. He timed the ballwell from the start, getting off the mark with a straight drive off DanielVettori, and then placed the ball far more deftly than he had in theTwenty20s. Between overs 33 and 38 the pair added 35, running hard betweenthe wickets and taking runs off Butler, prompting Vettori to call backTuffey. Samaraweera, who had reached his half-century off 78 balls, cleanlylofted 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 witha spanking cover drive off Butler, repeated the shot a touch squarer, andpaddled four more past short fine leg. Bond returned to bowl Mathews for 51,but Samaraweera achieved his watershed landmark. It was exceptional battingand 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 bedifficult after such a comprehensive defeat, especially against India. NewZealand’s next game – and potentially last – game is on Friday. They can, atbest, hope to look forward to a new pitch.
