Crippling blow - Windies' World Cup hopes diminish with Sri Lanka defeat
published:
Monday | April 2, 2007
Sri Lanka centurion Sanath Jayasuriya (right) hits a boundary as West Indies wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin (foreground) reacts during their ICC WI Cricket World Cup match at the Providence Stadium in Guyana yesterday. - Dellmar
Tony Becca, Contributing Editor
GEORGETOWN, Guyana:
The West Indies dream of winning cricket's World Cup for the third time and of becoming the first home team to lift the coveted title is fast becoming a nightmare.
After storming through the first round with three fairly comfortable victories over Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Ireland, the West Indies lost to defending champions Australia and then to New Zealand in the second round, the Super Eights, before skidding to their third defeat in a row yesterday when they were beaten by Sri Lanka at the Providence Stadium in George-town, Guyana.
Batting second after winning the toss and sending Sri Lanka to bat under grey clouds on a day when the start of play was delayed for 45 minutes due to early morning rain, the West Indies, replying to 303 for five and needing 304 to win off 50 overs at 6.08 runs per over, were routed for 190 in 44.3 overs and thus lost the match by 113 runs with 5.3 overs still to be bowled.
With fast bowler Daren Powell, two wickets for 38 runs off his 10 overs, bowling well and the express speedster Jerome Taylor in support though not picking up a wicket, the match appeared set to be a close and exciting contest when, after 10 overs, Sri Lanka were struggling at 37 for two with Upul Tharanga gone - bowled by Powell for eight at 18 for one in the sixth over, and Kumara Sangakkara also gone - caught by wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, bowled Ian Bradshaw for seven at 35 for two in the ninth over.
At that stage of the contest, the West Indies bowlers were on top, the Sri Lanka batsmen were scratching around and appeared out of their depth, and the near capacity crowd, singing and dancing to the beat of Caribbean music, rejoiced and cheered on their team - and especially so as opening batsman Sanath Jayasuriya and captain Mahela Jayawardene, batting at number four, struggled to get the ball away.
Suddenly, however, the tide changed, an the West Indies innings was still to come, even though.their most ardent supporters, those with more faith than Job, continued to cheer though not as loud, an the pitch still appeared good for batting and the conditions were better than at the start of the day's play, the writing was on the wall - at least, but for those blinded by patriotism, it appeared so and it turned out to be so.
The total was 52 for two in the 15th over, Jayasuriya was in the teens, and Ian Bradshaw and Dwayne Smith had replaced Powell and Taylor when the little left-hander exploded. With 27 runs coming in two overs - nine off Bradshaw and 18, three fours and a massive straight six, off Smith, blasted his way to 50 in off 47 deliveries with seven fours and one six, to 100 off 86 deliveries with nine fours and four sixes, and to 115 before, at 218 for two in the 39th over, after a partnership of 183 off 180 deliveries with Jayawardene, he swung at Powell and was bowled after facing 101 deliveries and stroking and smashing 10 fours and four sixes.
In the ticking off his 25th one-day century, in falling just five runs short of his World Cup best of 120 versus New Zealand in 2003, the 37-year-old Jayasuriya, the game's most experienced one-day player, and the man who has over 200 sixes in one-day cricket, was awesome.
Left to score at a pace of 6.08 runs per over, the West Indies started their chase with the left-handed Christopher Gayle and the right-handed Bravo instead of the left-handers Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
When Gayle smashed pacer Lasith Malinga to the long-off and to the long-on boundaries, when Bravo went inside and clipped the left-handed pacer Chaminda Vaas to the mid-wicket, the cheers erupted around the beautiful new stadium.
In the space of four overs, however, the score was 42 for three, and with captain Brian Lara numbered among the departed, the arena, filled with some 15,000, was as quiet as a churchyard.
At that stage the West Indies were lined up against the wall and it was left to Chanderpaul, batting at number three, and Ramnaresh Sarwan, batting at number five, to come up with something extraordinary. Unfortunately, they could not and when, after 25 overs, the scoreboard read 82 for three, when, with only 25 overs to go, the West Indies needed another 222 to win, the match, as a contest, was over.
Chanderpaul, however, entertained the gathering in an attractive innings of 76 off 110 deliveries during which he slammed five sixes, including four off the great off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, before he swung at Malinga and was bowled offstump.
With only two points from the first round in the bag after three matches in the second round, the West Indies, with South Africa, Bangladesh and England to play, now find themselves in desperate straits.
Although they could still make it into the company of the big four even if they lose, the West Indies next match, against South Africa in Grenada next week Tuesday, is vital if they hope to keep the dream alive.
SRI LANKA Innings:
U. Tharanga b Powell
8
S. Jayasuriya b Powell
115
+K. Sangakkara c wkp Ramdin b Bradshaw
7
M. Jayawardene b Bravo
82
C. Silva c Lara b Sarwan
23
T. Dilshan not out
39
R. Arnold not out
4
Extras (lb7, w13, nb5)
25
TOTAL (5 wickets - 50 overs)
303
Did not bat: D. Fernando, C. Vaas, L. Malinga,
M. Muralitharan
Fall of wickets: 1-18 (Tharanga, 5.5 overs), 2-35 (Sangakkara, 8.4), 3-218 (Jayasuriya, 38.4), 4-251 (Jayawardene, 44.1), 5-268 (Silva, 46.4).
