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Things finally fell in place for the struggling Sri
Lankans as a good all-round performance enabled
them to win their first game on the tour of New
Zealand.
The hosts looked set for a 5-0 series victory,
courtesy a maiden century by Peter Fulton, New
Zealand's find of the series. But a mix-up between
him and Cairns, and superb bowling efforts by Vaas
and Ruchira Perera sealed the fate of the game.
The Lankan batting clicked for the first time in
the series as they notched up an impressive 273-6
with crucial contributions from most of the
batsmen. Things could have been much better, but
for none of the batsmen managing to convert their
50s into 100s. Shane Bond bowled a superb last
over, giving away just one run.
Even so, Sri Lanka had every reason to be pleased
with their performance considering the misery of
their batters in the earlier games. However, if the
visitors are entertaining any hopes of giving the
Aussies and the Africans a tough fight in the
upcoming series, the likes of Tillekaratne Dilshan
and Mahela Jayawardene will have to learn to
convert their starts into big scores. This has been
the chief cause behind the Lankans' failings both
in the preceding series against India and the
current one.
Even the consistent Sangakkara seems to be falling
into the trap. Having said that, his half century
in this game, along with yet another excellent
knock from back-in-form skipper Marvan Atapattu,
was crucial in Sri Lanka putting up a competitive
total.
The Sri Lankan bowlers haven't done all that bad a
job in this series. A good total on the board was
all that Chaminda Vaas, the Lankan spearhead, could
have asked for. Once the batsmen had done that, the
left-armer did not let the team down by providing
the early breakthroughs. He trapped the opposition
skipper leg-before for no score. For a change, he
got great support at the other end from yet another
left-armer, Ruchira Perera, who has been constantly
in and out of the side over the years. But at
Napier, he was as effective as Vaas, if not more.
While Vaas sent back Fleming, Perera got rid of the
other opener Lou Vincent.
What followed was an excellent partnership between
Astle and Fulton. The latter's innings had
everything from superb strokes to sensible
defensive shots when required. Astle on the other
hand brought all his experience into play, making
sure that he turned the strike over at regular
intervals and gave it back to Fulton.
Even after Astle fell three short of his 50 trying
to clear the field, Hamish Marshall continued the
good work. At 199-3, the home team seemed to be
cruising to victory when Perera struck gold with
his slower ball, fooling the well-set Marshall. The
procession of wickets did not end after that.
Fulton looked set to take the Kiwis home, but
Cairns ran him out by calling for a non-existent
single. The all-rounder tried to compensate with a
few lusty blows. But his cameo was brought to an
end by Vaas, who also cleaned up the tail, giving
Sri Lanka a good consolation victory.
Sri Lanka had a great chance to snatch a win even
at Wellington, but their batsmen could not
capitalise on yet another great spell from Chaminda
Vaas (5-39). Chasing 225, they were skittled out
for 203 with only Sangakkara and Mubarak managing
to cross the 50 mark. Bond was yet again the
wrecker-in-chief with the other bowlers also
chipping in.
The Lankans now take on the Aussies and the Proteas
in a tri-series, and unless they raise their game,
there is definitely another disaster in the offing. |