Sports
Australia win Super Over after Hazlewood heroics, take 2-0 lead against SL
There’s no way Sri Lanka have a shot in this, right? With four overs left, they were five down needing 50. With three overs left, they were six down needing 46. Pathum Nissanka was playing the best innings of his T20 international career, but that career is only 14 matches old.
But with the help of Wanindu Hasaranga, Nissanka lurches Sri Lanka forward in the 18th over, bowled by Pat Cummins. Hasaranga hits two fours – one an intentional uppercut behind square, the other a thick outside edge. Nissanka then wallops Cummins over deep midwicket for six, and by the end of the over, Sri Lanka bring the requirement to 29 off 12 balls.
But it’s Josh Hazlewood, who keeps the runs in check in the 19th over, giving away only 10, and would thwart Sri Lanka later.
The final over, which has to be bowled by Marcus Stoinis, seems to be going Australia’s way, when Nissanka is caught at deep backward square, and Sri Lanka still need 12 off the last three balls, with only tailenders on strike.
Perhaps buoyed by the news of their big IPL contracts, though, Maheesh Theekshana and Dushmantha Chameera hit the boundaries that leveled the scores and forced a Super Over. Theekshana bashed his first ball over deep midwicket, where Steven Smith almost pulled off a stunning save, but didn’t quite manage to prevent a six. Last ball of conventional play, Dushmantha Chameera smoked one down the ground for four to tie the scores. If the ball in between, a fullish ball way outside off stump, had been called a wide as it should have been, Sri Lanka might have won the game there.
The visitors did well to force the match into overtime, but that is where their fight ran out. Australia won it easy, in the end.
The Super Over
Although Nissanka had played perhaps the innings of the game, captain Dasun Shanaka – who had also struck it cleanly in his 34 off 23, chose to open in the company of Dinesh Chandimal. It didn’t go well. Shanaka tried to scoop Hazlewood over his shoulder first up but didn’t make contact. Then he played and missed a wide yorker outside off stump. Third ball, he missed again, and when they tried to run on the overthrow, had Chandimal run out at the non-striker’s end. Nissanka hit a two and a single in the two balls he got to face, but a Super Over score of five was never going to be enough.
With Hasaranga bowling, Stoinis hit two fours off balls two and three to finish the match.
Hazlewood’s match-winning turn
Aside from the excellent Super Over, Hazlewood was outstanding all through Sri Lanka’s innings. He removed Danushka Gunathilaka in the first over – the batter smoking one straight to cover. He then had Avishka Fernando caught at cover as well – his figures reading 9 for 2 from his two Powerplay overs. He only gave away three runs in his third over – the 12th of the innings – and kept his last to 10. All up (including the Super Over), he sent down five overs and conceded only 27.
Nissanka’s slow-burn knock
Josh Inglis produced an excellent 48 off 32 to set Australia’s total up, but Nissanka produced the innings of the evening, progressing steadily while Sri Lanka lost wickets in the early overs, (they were 25 for 3, then 67 for 4), before moving up the gears alongside Shanka, with whom he shared a partnership worth 48 off 31 balls. In the death overs, Nissanka cleared the boundary twice, to bring Sri Lanka close when they had seemed out of contention for much of the chase’s duration. He will be annoyed at the ball he got out to – a knee-high full toss from Stoinis, which he slapped straight to deep backward square in the final over. Nevertheless, his 73 off 53 encapsulated much of Sri Lanka’s fight. (Cricinfo)
One time is a shock. Two times, and the second to beat hosts Sri Lanka at their own game, is Zimbabwe. Led by their canny bowling, Zimbabwe pulled Sri Lanka back from a flying start to keep them to 178 on a sluggish Premadasa track. Their opener Brian Benett, quickest scorer in their history, dropped anchor, stayed unbeaten like his team, and Sikandar Raza, Ryan Burl and Tadiwanashe Marumani did all the damage from the other end to seal their second-highest successful T20I chase.
Sri Lanka’s innings had three neat divisions: first 29 balls for 54 for 0, next 72 for 82 for 4 and then a finishing kick of 42 for 3 off the last 19 balls. Zimbabwe went Bennett and non-Bennett. Bennett scored 63 off 48; the other three combined for 102 off 64 balls. Raza was the decisive hand: 45 off 26 after the asking rate had gone past 11.
Brief scores:
Zimbabwe 182 for 4 in 19.3 overs (Brian Bennett 63*, Tadiwanashe Marumani 34, Ryan Burl 23, Sikandar Raza 45; Dasun Shanaka 1-26, Dushan Hemantha 2-36, Dunith Wellalage 1-27) beat Sri Lanka 178 for 7 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 62, Kusal Perera 22, Kusal Mendis 14, Pavan Rathnayake 44, Dunith Wellalage 15*; Blessing Muzarabani 2-38, Graeme Cremer 2-27, Brad Evans 2-35) by six wickets
[Cricinfo]
West Indies headed into the Super Eight of the T20 World Cup unbeaten after successfully defending 165 against Italy at Eden Gardens on Thursday. Spinners Chrishan Kalugamage and Ben Manenti impressed with the ball, and were backed up by some sharp fielding, but the batters couldn’t get the Italian job done.
While Italy exited their maiden World Cup with a win against Nepal and many memories to cherish, West Indies sealed their fourth successive win at the venue where they will face India in their final Super Eight fixture on March 1.
Italy may have sensed an opportunity for another win when they stifled West Indies’ power-packed middle order, but Marrhew Forde’s twin strikes in the powerplay decisively tilted the game in West Indies’ favour. Bowling three overs on the bounce, Forde dismissed both Justin Mosca and No. 3 Syed Naqvi, helping West Indies restrict Italy to 37 for 3 in six overs. Shamar Joseph then bagged four wickets to go with his four catches as Italy were bowled out for 123.
The win was set up by Shai Hope, who hit back-to-back half-centuries and dominated the early exchanges with an array of off-side drives. West Indies lost steam after Hope departed for 75 off 46 balls, but they regained it through their bowlers.
After West Indies were asked to bat first, they hit seven boundaries in the powerplay, and Hope was responsible for all of those. By the eighth over, the West Indies captain had zoomed to a 28-ball half-century. The first boundary by a West Indies player not named “Shai Hope” came in the tenth over when Roston Chase backed away and lifted left-arm spinner JJ Smuts over extra-cover.
Hope peppered the off side, scoring 46 of his 75 runs in that region. Anything that was remotely full and outside off was crashed in the arc between mid-off and point. When Italy dragged their lengths back, Hope was ready for it as well. Like when left-arm seamer Ali Hasan banged one into his upper body, Hope swatted him away over square leg for six in the fourth over. Hope was particularly severe on right-arm fast bowler Thomas Draca, taking him for 20 off nine balls.
Italy finally stopped him in the 16th over when legspinner Kalugagame bowled him with a tossed-up wrong’un.
Brief scores:
West Indies 165 for 6 in 20 overs (Shai Hope 75, Roston Chase 24, Sherfane Rutherford 24*, Matthew Forde 16*; Ali Hasan 1-24, Thomas Draca 1-22, Chrishan Kalugamage 2-25, Ben Manenti 2-37) beat Italy 123 in 18 overs (Anthony Mosca 19, JJ Smuts 24, Ben Manenti 26, Grant Stewart 12; Akeal Hosein 1-25, Shamar Joseph 4-30, Matthew Forde 3-19, Gudakesh Motie 2-24) by 42 runs
[Cricinfo]
Sri Lanka won the toss at the party at Premadasa and decided to bat first. Both, the hosts and Zimbabwe, are through to the Super Eight already, but for Sri Lanka it was important to get in their injury replacements.
The big one, of course, was Matheesha Pathirana, whose tournament ended with a calf injury sustained during the match against Australia. His replacement in the squad, Dilshan Madushanka, came straight into the XI. Also given a look-in was Pramod Madushan, the fast bowler who was already in the squad. In order to organise this virtual bowl-off between Madushan and Madushanka, Sri Lanka rested their lead fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera.
Zimbabwe made no change to the XI that shocked Australia in this World Cup. They were looking to bowl first anyway because of the forecast for some drizzle later on, and hoping to bat in better batting conditions once the lights came on.
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis (wk), Pavan Rathnayake, Dasun Shanaka (capt), Kamindu Mendis, Dunith Wellalage, Dushan Hemantha, Maheesh Theekshana, Pramod Madushan, Dilshan Madushanka
Zimbabwe: Brian Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), Dion Myers, Sikandar Raza (capt), Ryan Burl, Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Brad Evans, Wellington Masakadza, Graeme Cremer, Blessing Muzarabani
[Cricinfo]
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