Srilanka Win Thriller

IF the South Africa vs Srilanka match turned out to be a thrilling contest thanks mainly to Malinga's exploits, this match(England vs Srilanka) went a step further as the momentum swung like a Pendulum during each stage of the match.

Srilanka held their nerve in the end to cling on to a 2 run victory. England, on the other side, have gained a great moral advantage despite losing their match. They have now identified two potential match winners in Ravi Bopara, and Paul Nixon.

The Match: England won the toss and sent Srilanka to bat. Prior to the match, England's captain Michael Vaughan had stated, ” Our real World Cup Campaign begins now”. His team proved their captain right by putting a great performance on the field and later on with the bat.

First innings:Srilanka had a steady start till Jayasuriya(25 runs) was bowled by Sajid Mahmood in the 8th over. The Srilankan batsman surprisingly batted in a sedate manner allowing Flintoff, Mahmood, & Co to settle. Tharanga made a slow, but steady, 62 runs, Mahela Jayawardane batted well as he scored a brisk 56 runs off 62 balls, as they put ton a crucial 91 run partnership for the third wicket.

Flintoff and Mahmood deliver: Flintoff(3/35) and Mahmood(4/50) bowled tightly and took 7 wickets between them. Flintoff produced crucial breakthroughs such as the wickets of Tharanga(62), and Chamara Silva(24). Mahmood on the other end, proved costly, took crucial wickets of Sanath Jayasuriya, Sangakkara(17), Arnold(20), and Malinga(2). Apart from Tharanga and Jayawardane, no Srilankan batsman scored above 30 as England got wickets at regular intervals thanks to the pressure built by the England Fielders especially Collingwood.
The Srilankan batsman failed to score off the slog overs as they scored just 75 runs off their last 15 overs ending up to score 235 in 50 overs.


England's Reply: England began disastrously losing openers Vaughan(0) and Joyce(10) before the 7th over. Ian Bell joined Kevin Pietersen as the duo put on a crucial 90 run partnership. Jayawardane made some smart moves by taking the second and third powerplays at unexpected intervals. Bell(47 runs) was run-out by Jaysuriya in the 26th over. This triggered a batting collapse as England lost Pietersen((58 runs)caught and bowled ,off a superb DOOSRA, by Muralitharan), Flintoff(2), and Collingwood(14 runs) for 32 runs. At the 34th over mark, England were staring down the barrel at 133/6.

The Partnership of the match: Critics would have written off England to go down tamely, but Nixon and Bopara thought otherwise. They came in with the score reading a precarious 133/6, and the duo were seperated only when the score read 220. Nixon made a sizzling 42, he ran well, hit two good boundaries and he even REVERSE-SWEPT Murali into the stands for a great SIX. The 22 year Old Bopara on the other hand was cool and calm. He rotated the strikewell, placed the ball in the gaps and scored a brilliant 52 off just 53 balls on a pitch which seldom supported stroke making. The Duo put on a fabulous 87 run partnership, which nearly carried England to victory.

Nixon got out in the penultimate(49th) over leaving England to score 13 off the last 7 balls. Fernando bowled the last over. Bopara hit the second ball for a four, and singles were scored off the other two deliveries. 3 were required off the last ball, Fernando held his nerve, as he bowled Bopara off the final ball to bring a 2 run Srilankan Win.

Highlights: Nixon reverse sweeping Murali for Six.
Bopara's brave innings of 52 which earned him the Man-of-the-Match award.
The last ball of the match bowled by Fernando, that got rid of Bopara.