Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 14 runs in 2nd ODI

By Fathima Zanaida 

PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka (TheSportsNEXT) November 4, 2012: Inclement weather once again left bad taste in the mouth of cricket lovers on Sunday when rain forced another cricket game to use the infamous Duckworth-Lewis Method as Sri Lanka took a 1-0 lead in the five-match One Day Internationals by winning the second ODI at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium by 14 runs.

Watching cricket action in Sri Lanka has been a tough thing this season as right from the Sri Lanka Premier League, the ICC World Twenty20 2012, and now the New Zealand tour to Sri Lanka all saw some of the potentially best matches either washed out or were decided on the Duckworth-Lewis Method.

The first One Day International of the series was washed out and the second match also succumbed to inclement weather conditions on Sunday when New Zealand gave them a great chance by scoring 250 runs for the loss of six wickets from their 50 overs.

New Zealand were looking good to make a match of this one as they had reduced Sri Lanka to 118 for three from 22.5 overs before rain played spoilsport at Pallekele and at that point in time the hosts were 14 runs above the par score as per the Duckworth-Lewis Method calculations.

Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews were at the crease and the Kiwi bowlers had already gotten rid of Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara and scalp of Mahela could have made the match all the more interesting, but it wasn’t to be in the end.

Batting first, New Zealand scored 250/6, thanks to four major knocks led by skipper Ross Taylor who hit 72 from 62 balls smashing seven boundaries and two maximums.

BJ Watling (55 from 86 – 6 fours), Rob Nicol (46 from 74 - 3 fours), and James Franklin (35 not out from 40 – 1 six) also came good with the bat after New Zealand had to leave out Brendon McCullum due to a strain.

The BlackCaps innings had two major partnerships, one between Rob Nicol and and BJ Watling worth 83 runs for the second wicket and second between skipper Ross Taylor and James Franklin as they added 91 for the fourth wicket.

Lasith Malinga took two wickets for 39 runs while Rangana Herath proved difficult to get away as he bowled a miser spell of one for 28. Nuwan Kulasekara (10-1-50-1), Angelo Mathews (7-0-38-1), and Thisara Perera (7-0-52-1) also captured a wicket each.

Chasing 251-run target was not a walk in the park at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium and the home side needed one of their three top batsmen, i.e. Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, and Mahela Jayawardene, to stay there right to the end.

However, it was rain which had the final say as Sri Lanka scored 118 for three from 22.5 overs when rain finally put an end to cricket action and with it New Zealand’s chances of winning the second ODI.

Lasith Malinga was declared Man of the Match for his disciplined and hostile bowling spell.

The two teams will contest the third One Day International at the same venue on November 6 (Tuesday).

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ICCWT20: Pak victory over Kiwis fills Lahoriites with joy

By AM Khan

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportsNext) September 23, 2012: The enthusiastic youth of Lahore expressed joy over victory of Pakistan cricket team in their first match of the ICC World Twenty20 2012 (ICCWT20) against New Zealand terming it collective effort of the whole team.

They seemed overjoyed by the victory and chanted slogans ‘Pakistan Zindaabad’.

Zulkifle, captain of Imperial Cricket Club, said that Pakistan team had highly professional and talented players and it had potential to win the Twenty20 World Cup. The team played like one-unit and won the opener in great style. Farhan, emerging player of the club, also lauded the team’s efforts especially the brilliant performance of Saeed Ajmal, Nasir Jamshed and Mohammad Hafeez who guided Pakistan team towards victory.

The club’s executive committee member Faisal also felicitated captain Mohammad Hafeez and all the team members on this great victory in the T20 World Cup. He urged the players to keep the same spirit in the upcoming matches as well.

Meanwhile, most of the citizens, who arranged big screens in big grounds to witness the match, expressed great joy over the team's victory and hoped that Pakistani players would continue performing well and bring back the Twenty20 glory to Pakistan.

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ICCWT20: Explosive Dale Steyn saves the day for Proteas in warm-up

By Fathima Zanaida

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (TheSportsNext) September 17, 2012: An impressive spell of fast bowling by Dale Steyn and a captain’s knock by AB de Villiers helped South Africa defeat a high-flying New Zealand side by only nine runs in their ICC World Twenty20 Warm-Up match played at Colts Cricket Club Ground in Colombo on Monday.

South Africa survived a late scare when New Zealand captain Ross Taylor freed his arms and hit seven sixes as well as two boundaries to make it tough for the bowlers but as soon as he perished, the match belonged to the Proteas.

New Zealand skipper Ross Taylor won the toss and asked South Africa to bat first and they scored an impressive total of 186 for six from their 20 overs.

South Africa started in a positive manner with openers Richard Levi (24 from 20 – 2 fours, 1 six) and Faf du Plessis (24 from 20 – 2 fours, 1 six) gave them a rollicking start.

However, Adam Milne pegged South Africans back with a double blow as he got rid of both the openers while Rob Nicol got rid of dangerous Hashim Amla (9 from 9 – 1 six) as South Africa looked rattled at three down for 61 from 8.2 overs.

However, skipper AB de Villiers (54 from 30 – 5 fours, 2 sixes) joined forces with JP Duminy (30 from 24 – 2 fours, 1 six) for a 62-run fourth wicket partnership that resurrected the innings.

Justin Ontong (Duck) failed to open his account but Farhaan Behardien (24 not out from 12 – 2 sixes) and Albie Morkel (15 not out from 4 – 2 fours, 1 six) provided a late flurry of boundaries that lifted South Africa to a formidable total of 186 runs.

Adam Milne was the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand as he captured two wickets for 26 runs while James Franklin also picked up two wickets for 31 runs.

New Zealand never looked comfortable chasing the hefty target as James Franklin (12 from 11 – 2 fours), Martin Guptill (8 from 5 – 1 six), and Brendon McCullum (9 from 6 – 2 fours) perished within the powerplay overs.

However, skipper Ross Taylor (75 from 42 – 2 fours, 7 sixes) played exceptionally well and not only kept one end intact but with Rob Nicol (37 from 36 – 1 four, 1 six) was able to develop a strong 94-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

With the asking run-rate climbing all the time, New Zealand remained under stern pressure to keep up with it and kept losing wickets as Ross Taylor was grabbed Lonwabo Tsotsobe and once his wicket fell things looked pretty certain in favor of South Africans.

However, New Zealand’s late-middle-order batsmen kept up the fight and Nathan McCullum (14 from 12 – 1 six) and Kane Williamson (7 not out from 5) kept hitting the ball till the last over but the target had already gone out of their reach.

In the end, BlackCaps could only manage 177 for eight from 20 overs and South Africans recorded an impressive 9-run victory for ICCWT20.

Dale Steyn was the star of the show for the Proteas who took four wickets for only 25 runs while Lonwabo Tsotsobe also bowled well for a wicket for 24 runs.

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