da spicy bet： TANGIER-With three innings of substance from the first four top orderbatsmen, Sri Lanka marched to their third win in four games withconsummate ease, reaching the target with six wickets to spare and eightof the regulation 50 overs remaining
Agha Akbar19-Aug-2002TANGIER-With three innings of substance from the first four top orderbatsmen, Sri Lanka marched to their third win in four games withconsummate ease, reaching the target with six wickets to spare and eightof the regulation 50 overs remaining unconsumed.And while they were at it, they must have taught a thing or two toyesterday’s losers, Pakistan, about how to organise a chase.In a match that was of just academic interest, the Sri Lankan desire towin was palpably intense.Perhaps they wanted to use this opportunity to put South Africa in theirplace to score some psychological points before Wednesday’s final.The quicksilver innings by Sanath Jayasuriya (47, off 48 balls, 6 foursand 1 six) and Aravinda de Silva (unconquered 77, off 74 balls, 7 foursand 1 six) took the attack to Proteas. And a comparatively sedate knockby Kumar Sangakkara (57, off 90 balls, 4 fours) made sure that therenever were any hiccups.By the time, Sangakkara got himself run out, the third wicket stand wasworth 96, off 111 deliveries, and at 179 for three in the 35th over, SriLanka’s was never in doubt.Sanath Jayasuriya, adjudged Man of the Match in two previous games, wason top of the bowling from word go. He seemed all set to get to his 50thscore of 50-plus when he tried to cut Klusener to fine third man; it wastoo close to his body and the resulting edge was pouched by stand-inkeeper Boeta Dippenaar.Jayasuriya started off with a boundary at covers in the first ShaunPollock over, and another to square-leg in Telemachus’s next. He lostMarwan Atapattu (15, 19 balls, 2 fours) with the total at 40, and wasdropped by Paul Adams in the next over, but he kept batting in hischaracteristic cavalier style.He picked up a fancy for Roger Telemachus (5 for 41, for one wicket),and first he cut him to third man and then sent him for a six to square leg.His rapidfire innings had put Sri Lanka on the way to victory, as abelligerent de Silva maintained the pace that he had set. Aravinda tooka six and a four from the first two overs that he faced off MakhayaNtini and in between pulled Lance Klusener to square-leg fence. Havingdone this, he settled down to his trademark singles and twos, sprinklinga boundary here and there, never letting the bowlers breathe easy tillthe target was overhauled, though Mahela Jayawardene lost his wicketwith 11 runs to go.Lankans restrict Proteas:
Jacques Kallis led the way with 84 runs, and he, Lance Klusener andShaun Pollock hit four sixes between them as South Africa collected 67runs in the last 10 overs, to take the total to a respectable 220 for six.Having rested its quartet of main bowlers (with South Africans havingmade as many changes to their eleven as well), it was a commendableachievement for Sri Lanka to restrict Proteas to this total.Jayasuriya handled his limited bowling resources rather well. BuddhikaFernando provided two important wickets early on. But then Kallis andGraeme Smith, who had seen Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Kirsten fall toFernando within the first 25 deliveries, seemed to be scoring freely offthe medium pacers after 10 overs had yielded only 25 runs.Jayasuriya brought on the spinners, and had the gumption to bowl two ofthe last three overs. Though Pollock took two sixes off him as the lastover went for 15 runs, he got the wicket of Kallis (84, 125, 7 fours, 1six).Kallis, who held the innings together in two good partenerships for thethird and fourth wicket stands of 71 and 78 respectively with Smith andKlusener, should have been out at 59 off Aravinda de Silva. As thereplays showed, Buddhika ran and dived forward to scoop the ball withhis fingers clearly under it. But third umpire Daryl Harper thoughtotherwise.Anyway, once his two main medium pacers had bowled their spells,Jayasuriya totally relied on Upul Chandana, de Silva and himself, allthree consuming their full quota of overs. Chandana was the pick of thethree, taking three wickets for 32 runs that really stopped the flow ofruns and the momentum of the innings.Smith, clean bowled, was the first of Chandana’s three wickets. And hegot Boeta Dippenaar, after he had swatted de Silva for a six overlong-on, caught by Sangakkara when he tried to cut too close to hisbody, and Justin Ontong too was smartly stumped by Sangakkara.Sri Lanka may have rested the bowlers, but it had a full complement ofeight batsmen and all-rounders. Keeping that in view, 220 was not bigenough a total. The Lankans proved it by becoming the first side in thistournament to win batting second.