da bet7： Sri Lanka booked themselves a guaranteed berth in the final of theCoca Cola Cup with an overwhelming 106-run victory over New Zealand atthe Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo today
Charlie Austin31-Jul-2001Sri Lanka booked themselves a guaranteed berth in the final of theCoca Cola Cup with an overwhelming 106-run victory over New Zealand atthe Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo today.Their authoritative display also keeps India’s hopes of qualificationalive. If India win their final two games, they will qualify for thefinal. If they slip up against Sri Lanka tomorrow though, New Zealandwill qualify by virtue of having already beaten them twice.Sri Lanka owed their victory to their best batting performance of thetournament. The middle order finally kicked into life and the hometeam rattled up an imposing 221 in 36 overs on by far the best battingpitch of the tournament.The New Zealand run chase then started disastrously as man of thematch Chaminda Vaas plucked out three wickets and Dilhara Fernandobowed a fiery new ball spell. The Clear Black Caps slumped to 18 forfive within the first eight overs and never stood a chance thereafter,eventually finishing on 115 for nine.Stephen Fleming, back in the side after stomach trouble, had won thetoss after morning drizzle and elected to field first on a wicketwhich traditionally offers the faster bowlers some assistance in themorning, but statistically still favours the side batting first.Avishka Guawardene (38) – pulled into the side at the last moment,after 14 overs had been lopped off the innings – opened with SanathJayasuriya (20) and the pair set the tone for the innings by adding 32runs at nearly a run a ball.That pace was maintained thereafter despite the loss of Jayasuriya inthe sixth over. Romesh Kaluwitharana joined Gunawardene and the pairadded 57 runs for the second wicket before Kaluwitharana wasathletically run out by Jacob Oram at backward point.Gunawardene followed four overs later, but the momentum was continuedby Marvan Atapattu (34) and Mahela Jayawardene (58) in a 56-run stand.Jayawardene, batting on his club ground, immediately looked more atease than he had in the previous four games. He batted fluently andhit two majestic straight sixes in his 46-ball half-century.With support at the death by Russel Arnold (22*) the pair took thegame out of New Zealand’s reach by scoring 96 runs in the final 11overs.After a shortened luncheon interval, which gave them hardly enoughtime to put on their pads, let alone have a bite to eat, MatthewSinclair (1) and Nathan Astle (4) were on the back foot as ChamindaVaas bowled his best spell of the series.Curving the ball into the right-handers he trapped Sinclair leg beforein his second over and then induced an indifferent prod from Oram (0),who was then well caught at slip by Arnold for a second ball duck.Fleming (6) then tried to weather the testing new ball bursts of Vaasand Fernando. Whilst Vaas probed intelligently away, Fernando hurriedboth the batsmen, jagging the ball off the seam.Fleming’s resistance ended in the seventh over as he carved a catch tosecond slip. Craig McMillan followed in the next over, carelessly runout by a direct hit from Jayawardene, and Nathan Astle ensured thatNew Zealand had no chance when he was immediately snapped up in theslips.New Zealand batted out the rest of the innings, anxious that their netrun rate not be decimated by such a comprehensive defeat. With reliefthey passed their record lowest score of 64 against West Indies in1986, but they only limped to the hundred mark after some biffs bylast man Darryl Tuffey (20*).New Zealand will no doubt watch tomorrow’s crucial encounter withgreater interest and will be hoping that Sri Lanka make a better fightof it than they did last Sunday when the lost by six wickets to India.