Sri Lanka breezed into the World Twenty20 semi-finals after left-arm spinner Rangana Herath destroyed New Zealand in a 59-run romp in Chittagong, Bangladesh, on Monday.
Playing his first match in the tournament proper, the 36-year-old bowler claimed five wickets for only three runs in 3.3 overs and was involved in two run outs as New Zealand folded for 60 — their lowest total in Twenty20 cricket — in 15.3 overs.
For New Zealand, who began their chase one batsman short after all-rounder Corey Anderson had dislocated a finger trying to take a catch, Kane Williamson contributed 42 of the 60 runs, while none of his teammates managed double digits in their spectacular collapse.
Photo: AFP
Sachithra Senanayake also helped himself to a couple of wickets as Sri Lanka’s spin duo returned remarkable combined figures of 6.3-2-6-7 in a bowler-dominated, low-scoring contest.
“I trusted my spinners. Herath bowled really well, he was unbelievable,” stand-in Sri Lanka skipper Lasith Malinga said at the presentation ceremony.
“We were ready for this [effectively] quarter-final match,” the paceman said after Sri Lanka joined South Africa in the last four from Group 1.
Once Martin Guptill was run out after a mix-up with Williamson, it was a steady procession of New Zealand batsmen who surrendered to Herath’s guile, completely undoing the good work done by their bowlers.
“All credit to Sri Lanka. Herath and Sachi, the way they bowled was outstanding. They blew us away with about eight wickets for some 10 runs,” New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum said.
McCullum would not say Anderson’s unavailability added more pressure on his side and rather blamed it on the other players.
“I wouldn’t say there was extra pressure. It was sort of a quarter-final anyway. We just didn’t adapt quick enough and played some mindless cricket. Once you let them get on top, it’s very hard to stop [them],” he said. “We took some poor options today and hence we’re on the plane home.”
Leading Sri Lanka in the absence of Dinesh Chandimal, who served a one-match ban for his team’s second over-rate offense in 12 months, Malinga initially watched in dismay as Trent Boult wrecked his top order with a three-wicket burst.
After Kusal Perera fell to Boult through a dubious caught-behind decision, Sri Lanka lost wickets at regular intervals, before eventually being shot out for 119 in 19.2 overs.
Mahela Jayawardene top-scored with 25, while Lahiru Thirimanne managed 20, but a lack of partnerships halted Sri Lanka’s progress.
Jimmy Neesham (three for 22) polished off the tail to restrict Sri Lanka to a sub-120 total, but even that proved beyond New Zealand.
Malinga’s leadership experience was more than offset by the presence of four former captains in the Sri Lanka side — Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Angelo Mathews, who is the current Test and 50-over skipper.
“I’m really lucky to be captain of this side... They have good experience and that’s why were successful today,” Malinga said.
BANGLADESH V AUSTRALIA
AFP, DHAKA
Australia finished their unimpressive World Twenty20 campaign with a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in Dhaka yesterday.
Aaron Finch scored a 45-ball 71 and David Warner knocked a fiery 35-ball 48 to help Australia chase down a 154-run target in 17.3 overs.
Australia and hosts Bangladesh had lost their first three matches and were playing for pride in a meaningless match.
Finch and Warner put on a solid 98-run opening stand by the 12th over to quash any hopes of a win for Bangladesh at a packed Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
Finch smashed four sixes and seven fours before he was bowled by paceman Al-Amin Hossain, who finished with two for 30. Finch was also ruthless, hitting three sixes and five fours before Hossain bowled him with a beautiful delivery.
Cameron White, who made 18 not out, hit a four and a six to seal the victory.
Earlier Bangladesh were helped to 153-5 by Shakib Al Hasan’s 52-ball 66 for his fourth Twenty20 half-century — the first from any Bangladesh batsman in the tournament.
Shakib added 112 for the third wicket with skipper Mushfiqur Rahim (47) in a much-improved batting display by the hosts.
The duo created a new Bangladesh record for the third wicket in all Twenty20 internationals, beating the 109-run stand set by Aftab Ahmed and Mohammad Ashraful against the West Indies at Johannesburg in the 2007 World Twenty20.
Bangladesh lost openers Anamul Haque (0) and Tamim Iqbal (5) in paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile’s first two overs, leaving the repair work to the two most senior players.
Coulter-Nile was the pick of Australia bowlers with two for 17.
Shakib hit five fours and three sixes before he fell to a brilliant catch by Glenn Maxwell off Doug Bollinger.
Rahim matched his illustrious partner as he smashed five fours and a six off just 36 balls, before he holed out off Shane Watson.
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