Sri Lankan slingshot Lasith Malinga became the first man to claim two World Cup hat-tricks on Tuesday with a sensational six-wicket destruction of Kenya.
The 27-year-old, who famously took four wickets in four balls against South Africa in the 2007 tournament, finished with 6-38 as Kenya were bowled out for 142, struggling under a barrage of yorkers and trademark Malinga toe-crushers.
Malinga had Tanmay Mishra leg before wicket with the final ball of the 42nd over, and then clean-bowled Peter Ongondo and Shem Ngoche with the first two of the 44th to complete his hat-trick.
Photo: AFP
Malinga, who had earlier dismissed opener Seren Waters and top-scorer Collins Obuya, missed the chance for another four in four when he unleashed a wide past Elijah Otieno.
However, he was not to be denied, clean-bowling the hapless No. 11 with another unplayable delivery for a fourth wicket in six balls.
His hat-trick was the second of this World Cup following West Indies seamer Kemar Roach’s achievement against the Netherlands on Monday.
Kenya, who went into the Group A game at the R. Premasada stadium in Colombo with the tournament’s worst record, were 8-2 at one stage before brothers Collins (52) and David Obuya (51) put on 94 for the third wicket.
However, their last seven wickets went for the addition of just 22 runs to leave the home side with a straightforward target.
Sri Lanka, the 1996 champions, lost to 1992 winners Pakistan by just 11 runs in their last outing, and went into the game widely expected to heap more misery on a Kenyan side reportedly split by internal strife.
Sri Lanka had a World Cup score to settle, having slumped to a shock 53-run defeat against the Africans in Nairobi in 2003, a result that helped the Kenyans go all the way to the semi-finals.
Kenya lost by 10 wickets to New Zealand in their Group A opener after being bowled out for 69 and then suffered a 205-run mauling at the hands of Pakistan.
In their two games before Tuesday, they had made just 181 runs, were without a point and had the worst run rate.
Meanwhile, Roach, whose hat-trick on Monday in the 215-run win over the Netherlands was the sixth in World Cup history, said his side had nothing to fear ahead of tomorrow’s showdown against Bangladesh in Dhaka.
The game could be crucial in deciding the fourth team from Group B to make the quarter-finals with India, England and South Africa expected to snatch the other three berths.
“We take a lot of confidence into the game against Bangladesh,” said Roach, who finished with a career-best 6-27 against the Dutch, celebrating a hat-trick when he sent back Pieter Seelaar, Bernard Loots and Berend Westdijk. “We’ll go there on a high. Bangladesh are an improving team but we are better than them.”
The West Indies and Bangladesh have two points from a win and defeat apiece.
Defending champions Australia, meanwhile, dismissed as “laughable” claims that the International Cricket Council was investigating their match against Zimbabwe for slow batting.
“It’s quite a laughable story. It’s a joke,” wicketkeeper Brad Haddin said during the practice at Colombo’s Sinhalese Sports Club.
Openers Haddin and Shane Watson made sedate progress against Zimbabwe’s spinners early in their innings in the Feb. 21 Group A game in Ahmedabad, India, reaching 5-0 from two overs and 28-0 off the first 11 overs.
The pair eventually added 61 in 18.4 overs as Australia made 262-6, with Haddin scoring 29 off 66 balls before falling leg before wicket to Prosper Utseya.
“It’s not a case [of match-fixing], we just got off the mark a bit slowly,” Haddin said.
The Times of India Web site on Tuesday said the slow start in the first two overs was “scrutinized by the International Cricket Council anti-corruption and security unit.”
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but