What a great game of cricket! It was a crucial game for both England and Sri Lanka, more so for the Lankans, for if they had lost, then they would have had to beat Australia and New Zealand to stay in the tournament and that we know is going to be extremely tough.
The Lankans have shown throughout this tournament that they are made of sterner stuff and kept their nerve, even as England closed in on their meagre total.
That total could have been richer by at least 50 runs, if both the well-set batsmen Upul Tharanga and skipper Mahela Jayawardene had not got out when they did. When a batsman has done all the hard work and got to his fifty, that’s when he has to take a deep breath and carry on, for that’s what his side needs, but often we see that the tiredness that comes with doing the hard yards can lead a batsman to play a casual shot after his fifty, as if his job was done.
That said, the Lankans must be praised for the manner in which they fought back. They have a good new-ball attack in Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga.
The former may have dropped in pace, but still bowls a mean line around the right-hander’s off-stump, getting the ball to swing in or hold its line, and gets plenty of wickets leg-before, because at his pace, the ball invariably hits the batsman below the knee-roll of his legguards.
With Malinga, it takes batsmen some time before they can pick his line, and in limited-overs cricket where every ball is important, sometimes these dot balls are a big plus for the Lankans. Malinga also has a clever slower delivery with which he deceives the batsman, and so it’s a lethal new ball which has to be watched all the time by the batsmen. Then, there’s Dilhara Fernando, who too has overcome to a great extent his nervousness in tense situations and bowls with great thought, mixing his deliveries well.
What more can be said of Muralitharan? He is truly a magician who can get wickets when they are most needed by his team, and he gets the big fish, which is why he is such a huge player in the team. Sri Lanka also have the advantage of Jayasuriya coming on and taking a few wickets, and that adds balance to the attack. It was Fernando’s wickets that turned the game Sri Lanka’s way, for after Bell’s run-out, he grabbed the important wickets of Collingwood and Flintoff, who could have taken England home, and later, just when it looked like Ravi Bopara may do the last-minute heroics, Fernando clean-bowled him to give the Lankans a narrow two-run win. The relief on the faces of the Lankans told the story of how they knew it was important to win this game That puts enormous pressure on England to get to the semi-finals. Yes, they have a relatively easy game in hand against Bangladesh, but seeing how Ireland made it tough for them, the Bangladeshis may also spring a surprise.
Their big man Andrew Flintoff bowled splendidly against the Lankans, but he hasn’t got going with the bat, and maybe it might be a good idea for England to look at him opening the batting rather than wasting his big-hitting talent down the order. Michael Vaughan was brilliantly caught down the leg side by Sangakkara, but looks woefully out of touch. Don’t forget, he has been out of big cricket for a while with a nasty knee injury, and it is not easy to get back to form, especially in the hurly burly of limited- overs cricket. England will need to take tough decisions now, for they might otherwise miss the World Cup boat once again.
