WC cricket match 26: Sri Lanka thrash Zimbabwe by 139 runs

By Team Bellevision
Bellevision Media Network

Pallekele, 10 March 2011: Tillakaratne Dilshan’s all-round performance, which included 144 runs and four wickets for four runs, assured Sri Lanka of a place in the quarterfinals after they comprehensively beat Zimbabwe by 139 runs in a Group A encounter here on Thursday. Zimbabwe’s middle order could not build on the flying start provided by their openers as the Sri Lankans dashed their hopes of chasing down the target with a flurry of wickets.

 

Brendan Taylor took on the Sri Lankan bowlers with a 39-ball fifty that gave Zimbabwe an ideal start to their chase of mammoth 327. The two Zimbabwe openers - Taylor and Regis Chakabva - didn’t hold back and played their shots in a positive start and reached 88 for no loss by the end of 15th over. But following a 116-run stand for the first wicket, Murali struck to remove Chakabva for 35, after he and Taylor raised hopes of an upset.

 

The first wicket was soon followed by three more when Tatenda Taibu (4) and Taylor (80) were scalped by Angelo Mathews, followed by Prosper Utseya (4) who was dismissed by part-timer Tillakaratne Dilshan. Earlier, Sri Lankan openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga hit centuries during a record World Cup opening stand to lift Sri Lanka to 327-6 against hapless Zimbabwe.

 

 

 

Dilshan scored 144 for his ninth one-day hundred, while left-hander Tharanga notched a career-best 133, making Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura pay for his decision to field after winning the toss on a docile pitch. They put on 282, just failing to beat the record opening stand of 286 in all 50-over cricket. Tharanga also featured in that partnership with Sanath Jayasuriya against England at Leeds in 2006.

 

Thursday’s efforts also represented the fourth highest partnership for any wicket in ODI history. It all ended when Tharanga was caught at cover by Chigumbura in Christopher Mpofu’s 45th over, after a brilliant 141-ball knock, spiced by 17 hits to the fece. Dilshan fell in the next over, caught off spinner Prosper Utseya off a miscued drive. The 34-year-old opener smashed one six and 16 boundaries during his attractive 131-ball knock.

 

Mpofu finished with 4-64 as Sri Lanka lost four more wickets for just 45 runs late in the innings as they set the stage for a victory which will ensure a place in the quarterfinals. Dilshan cut loose as early as in the second over, hitting paceman Tinashe Panyangara for three boundaries and a six. Tharanga matched his partner shot for shot, notching three boundaries in one Mpofu over to help Sri Lanka reach 77-0 in 10 overs.

 

 

 

Dilshan reached his hundred with a quick single towards cover off Chigumbura, taking 95 balls to reach the three figures as a capacity 30,000 crowd gave him a standing ovation. In the 33rd over, Tharanga hit Panyangara for another boundary to create a new World Cup record for the first wicket, beating the 194 set by Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar and Wajahatullah Wasti, against New Zealand at Manchester in 1999.

 

Tharanga soon joined Dilshan as century maker when he drove Raymond Price towards extra-cover for his 12th boundary to reach his tenth one-day hundred and first in the World Cup. His previous best of 120 had come against England at Lord’s in 2006. Sri Lanka brought back pacemen Thisara Perera and Nuwan Kulasekara in place of spinners Ajantha Mendis and Rangana Herath who featured in the abandoned match against Australia on Saturday. Zimbabwe brought in Mpofu for opening batsman Charles Coventry.

 

Match Summary

ICC World Cup 2011 Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe, 26th Match, Group A Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele, March 10, 2011

Match Information Umpires: Marais Erasmus (RSA) & Nigel Llong (Eng) Third Umpire: Ranmore Martinesz (SL) Match Referee: Chris Broad (Eng) Toss: Zimbabwe (Elected to field) Match Status: Sri Lanka won by 139 runs

Batting: Zimbabwe Innings

Batsmen Zimbabwe (188/10 in 39 ovs) Runs Balls 4’s 6’s SR Brendan Taylor c M Jayawardene b A Mathews 80 72 9 1 111.11 Regis Chakabva b M Muralitharan 35 61 3 0 57.38 Tatenda Taibu (wk) c K Sangakkara b A Mathews 4 6 0 0 66.67 Prosper Utseya st K Sangakkara b T Dilshan 4 11 0 0 36.36 Craig Ervine lbw b T Dilshan 17 21 2 0 80.95 Elton Chigumbura (c) c T Perera b M Muralitharan 6 11 0 0 54.55 Gregory Lamb c M Jayawardene b T Dilshan 0 1 0 0 0.00 Graeme Cremer not out 14 27 1 0 51.85 Ray Price c T Samaraweera b T Perera 11 15 2 0 73.33 Tinashe Panyangara lbw b T Dilshan 0 4 0 0 0.00 Chris Mpofu b M Muralitharan 1 5 0 0 20.00 Extras: b - 2, w - 12, nb - 0, lb - 2 16   Total:(188 for 10 in 39 overs) 188 Run Rate: 4.82

Fall Of Wickets

1/116 (Regis Chakabva, 19.5 ov.), 2/125 (Tatenda Taibu, 22.1 ov.), 3/132 (Brendan Taylor, 24.1 ov.), 4/150 (Prosper Utseya, 27.3 ov.), 5/156 (Craig Ervine, 29.3 ov.), 6/156 (Gregory Lamb, 29.4 ov.), 7/165 (Elton Chigumbura, 31.5 ov.), 8/185 (Ray Price, 36.5 ov.), 9/185 (Tinashe Panyangara, 37.4 ov.), 10/188 (Chris Mpofu, 38.6 ov.)

Bowling: Sri Lanka

Bowler O M R W Nb Wd ER Lasith Malinga 8 0 51 0 0 7 6.4 Nuwan Kulasekara 8 0 33 0 0 1 4.1 Thissara Perera 6 0 33 1 0 0 5.5 Muttiah Muralitharan 9 0 34 3 0 0 3.8 Angelo Mathews 5 0 29 2 0 0 5.8 Tillakaratne Dilshan 3 1 4 4 0 0 1.3

Batting: Sri Lanka Innings

Batsmen Sri Lanka (327/6 in 50 ovs) Runs Balls 4’s 6’s SR Upul Tharanga c E Chigumbura b C Mpofu 133 141 17 0 94.33 Tillakaratne Dilshan c T Panyangara b P Utseya 144 131 16 1 109.92 Thissara Perera c E Chigumbura b R Price 3 5 0 0 60.00 Mahela Jayawardene c R Chakabva b C Mpofu 9 7 1 0 128.57 Kumar Sangakkara (c) (wk) not out 11 7 1 0 157.14 Angelo Mathews c E Chigumbura b C Mpofu 0 1 0 0 0.00 Chamara Silva c T Panyangara b C Mpofu 4 2 1 0 200.00 Thilan Samaraweera not out 8 7 1 0 114.29 Nuwan Kulasekara             Lasith Malinga             Muttiah Muralitharan             Extras: b - 2, w - 9, nb - 1, lb - 3 15   Total:(327 for 6 in 50 overs) 327 Run Rate: 6.54

Fall Of Wickets

1/282 (Upul Tharanga, 44.4 ov.), 2/289 (Tillakaratne Dilshan, 45.4 ov.), 3/296 (Thissara Perera, 46.3 ov.), 4/300 (Mahela Jayawardene, 47.1 ov.), 5/302 (Angelo Mathews, 47.3 ov.), 6/308 (Chamara Silva, 47.6 ov.)

Bowling: Zimbabwe

Bowler O M R W Nb Wd ER Chris Mpofu 7 0 62 4 1 2 8.9 Tinashe Panyangara 6 0 51 0 0 2 8.5 Ray Price 9 1 46 1 0 2 5.1 Elton Chigumbura 3 0 20 0 0 0 6.7 Prosper Utseya 10 0 50 1 0 1 5.0 Graeme Cremer 7 0 42 0 0 1 6.0 Gregory Lamb 8 0 51 0 0 1 6.4