The great Sri Lankan twin act ends in tears and philosophy
The streaker who ran into the ground during the 37th over of the Sri Lanka innings pretty much conveyed the story at the SCG on Wednesday. He ran in from the backward point area, pulled down his pants and did a missionary on the hallowed turf.
Kumar Sangakkara was batting on 45 and Sri Lanka were nine wickets down for 127 in the first quarterfinal against South Africa. The security personnel pinned him to the ground and took him away, but South Africa thumped Sri Lanka, stripping their game to the bare and ending a World Cup jinx going back to their maiden tournament in 1992.
The nine-wicket win over Sri Lanka was their first ever in an elimination match. So relieved was skipper AB de Villiers that he actually joked about it. “We won’t mind carrying on the chokers’ tag as long as we are winning.”
SUBDUED END
Not all endings are happy. Sri Lanka’s batting legends Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene bowed out of ODIs on a rather forgettable note after the build-up towards a dream farewell. Sangakkara had scored four back-to-back centuries while Jayawardene’s fighting ton against Afghanistan, under pressure and with the tail, was a significant contribution to Sri Lanka’s qualification. But South Africa virtually finished off the match in the first half. Going into the official dinner break, they were already 40 for one chasing a paltry 134. They wrapped it in 18 overs. Sangakkara stepped into the ground at the fall of Tillakaratne Dilshan’s wicket with the strong Sri Lankan presence in the stands hoping for another heroic performance. But as the former skipper lumbered to 12 off 48 balls and then to 21 off 63, the quality and discipline of South African bowling was narrating a tale of grit, determination and hostility that was not just about bowling short.
Sri Lanka lost their first two wickets with four runs on the board and were right away chasing the game. The fielding inside the circle was spirited; they put in dives even for balls that would result in a regulation single, creating enough doubts in the Sri Lankan batsmen’s minds that running between the wickets dried up. The wicket held up just a bit to further build on that doubt. And then the almost unthinkable happened. Batting against spinners, considered the forte of any subcontinent team, especially Sri Lanka with the likes of Jayawardene and Sangakkara in their ranks, became the pivotal point of the match. Sri Lanka lost seven wickets to spinners, three of them to part-timer JP Duminy, who picked a hat-trick.
Imran Tahir finished with four for 26, bagged the Man-of-theMatch award and served a warning to South Africa’s semifinal opponents in Auckland, where a similar wicket might just offer him a higher platform to celebrate.
The crucial wicket was that of Jayawardene, who appeared not to have picked the quicker one which turned the wrong way just enough to take the upper part of the bat and go straight to short mid-wicket. Sangakkara in the end ran out of partners.
SA are now talking like champions. The hype is back. It’s a Cup journey they don’t want to end. up c De Kock b Abbott 3 (10) Gets an outside edge, keeper dives to take one-hander
Edges to second slip
c Du Plessis b Steyn
c Miller b Morkel Attempts cut, hits straight to third man
c & b Tahir
Lobs it to bowler’s left for a simple catch c Du Plessis b Tahir Miscues pull to short midwicket c Du Plessis b Duminy Flicks to short midwicket
Edges to first slip Nicks to keeper Caught plumb in front
not out c Miller b Tahir Hits straight to cover
0 (7)
45 (96) (4x3)
41 (48) (4x5)
4 (16)
19 (32) (4x1)
2 (5) 3 (6)
Extras 15 Total (all out, 37.2 133 FoW: 1-3, 2-4, 3-69, 4-81, 5-114, 6-115, 7-116, 8-116, 9-127 Bowling: D Steyn 7-2-18-1, K Abbott 6-1-27-1, M Morkel 7-1-27-1, JP Duminy 9-1-29-3, I Tahir 8.2-0-26-4 Although South Africa have played in three previous
World Cup semifinals, they had never won a single knockout game.
23 years ago, at the same Sydney Cricket Ground, SA had failed to win their first Cup knockout game — in the semis against England.
Rain halted play with SA in control but a controversial rain rule left them needing 21 runs off the last ball. They also faltered in the 1996 and 2011 quarterfinals and in the 1999 and 2007 semifinals. When they finally won, by nine wickets with 32 overs to spare, it was the shortest
Cup knockout match ever. c Kulasekara b Malinga Cuts to deep third man 16 (23) (4x1)
Extras Total (1 wicket, FOW: 1-40 Bowling L Malinga 6-0-43-1, T Dilshan 2-0-10-0, N Kulasekara 1-0-13-0, T Kaushal 6-0-25-0, D Chameera 2-0-29-0, T Perera 1-0-10-0 18 The emphatic victory brought great relief to South Africa as their inability to withstand pressure had been a constant theme approaching every World Cup. Surprisingly, SA’s spinners routed Sri Lanka. Imran Tahir’s leg-spin and JP Duminy’s part-time off-spin accounted for seven wickets. IMRAN TAHIR (4/26) JP DUMINY (3/29)
The leggie attacked relentlessly For all the great bowlers SA has with a tight line. He produced, it was Duminy who bowled smartly, according to picked the country’s first Cup the field placements. He hat-trick. The most important extracted turn, inviting the wicket was Angelo Mathews, batsmen to hit. If that didn’t who misjudged the off-spinner’s work, the pressure he built flight. He was excellent forced them to attempt risky against the left-handers, shots. cramping them for space.
SUSTAINED PRESSURE
By the time spin was introduced in the 15th over, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Kyle Abbott had already left the batsmen struggling to score after Sri Lanka elected to bat. The score read a paltry 47 for two. The spin duo piled on the pressure, resulting in a spate of wickets. SYDNEY: After 15 years of living a dream a partnership was broken. Cricket has seen the last of Mahela Jayawardene’s bat, those ferocious cuts to square, and silken drives through covers, the quiet demeanour, the patient answers and a reassuring presence on the field. Brothers-in-arms with Kumar Sangakkara, a friendship that developed over cricket, travels, partnerships in the middle and mischief off it, the duo has won almost everything but the 50-over World Cup. But what a journey!
When they announced during last year’s T20 World Cup that it would be their last tournament in the format within two hours of each other, chairman of selectors Sanath Jayasuriya was livid that the announcements were made to the media first, saying: “Why now, why not a few years more.”
Sangakkara will play Tests a little longer and is likely to retire against India. For the time being, he will play for Surrey; at No 3 and, if sources are right, Kevin Pietersen at No 4 in all probability. Jayawardene has called it a day in all forms of cricket.
Mahela was inconsolable, tears rolling down his cheeks as he hugged his dear friend while teammates lined up for handshakes. He did not come for the media interaction, and neither did skipper Angelo Mathews. Sangakkara did and revealed his structured thought process. “It’s been a great After crushing defeats to India and Pakistan, the SA skipper was criticised for letting the game drift. But with the knockouts came a transformed captain. He first rotated the pacers, using them in short bursts while he kept changing their ends. When he brought on the spinners, he set smart fields to exploit the slowness of the pitch — fielders like short cover and short midwicket adding to the pressure.
Duminy is the first spinner after Pakistan’s Saqlain Mushtaq — against Zimbabwe in 1999 — to take a hat-trick in a WC.
Kumar Sangakkara became only the third ODI RECORDS Sri Lanka’s crushing defeat meant the country’s batting greats Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, playing their last ODI, could not have a dream end. The pair, key members of the Sri Lanka side that lost the 2007 and 2011 World Cup finals, had been desperate to finish with a flourish. It was a particularly disappointing Cup for Jayawardene, who looked out of sorts for most of his knocks privilege,” he said about his cricketing days with Jayawardene. “He’s been, along with Aravinda de Silva, an exceptional player for Sri Lanka. He’s going to be sorely missed. I’m sure he’s going to be thoroughly disappointed today, batsman to score 500 runs in a World Cup.
The number of hat-tricks taken in World Cups. Out of 38 occasions in ODIs, Lasith Malinga has accounted for three. apart from the century against Afghanistan.
On Wednesday too, Jayawardene, who has already bowed out of the five-day format, could only manage four.
Sangakkara’s record-breaking run of four successive ODI hundreds finally came to an end although the left-hander, who plans to continue in Test cricket, top-scored with 45. but also sometimes there is a bit of relief as well when your career ends. The high-pressure situations, the warm-ups, the ice baths, the recovery sessions, all of that, all repeated over 16-17 years can get a bit too much.”