Lynn McConnell
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1st ODI: New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Napier, 31 Jan 2001 Lynn McConnell |
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Sri Lanka innings:
Pre-game: New Zealand innings: |
There have been some frustrations with injuries this year that have provided excuses for a lack of performance.
But tonight's injuries were self-inflicted with as poor a choice of shot selection from the side's batsmen as it is possible to imagine.
Eric Upashanta created mayhem in the top order as he cleared a way through the defences like a snow plough with a hot blade.
Then, once he had done his damage with a career-best performance, off-spinning maestro Mutiah Muralitharan stepped in to make short work of the middle-order.
Upashanta took four for 37 from his first eight overs while Muralitharan had five for 25, his fifth five-wicket bag in One-Day Internationals.
Again, it was the loyal servant of the side Chris Harris who fought longest and hardest. He was at the crease in the 14th over and while struggling to bat with his usual flair, mainly because of the propensity for those at the other end to get themselves out, the sort of commitment he showed meant he was 39 not out at the end.
Andrew Penn offered a hint of some scientific aggression getting New Zealand closer to the mark, but with 15 overs to go the required run rate was around eight an over, and given the lack of wickets it was always going to be difficult.
However, Penn put one hit high to deep cover and ran two but in trying to go over the top again he was well beaten and bowled for 15.
No 11 batsman Chris Martin came in and the first ball he faced resulted in four wides and then he was bowled next ball.
First up it was unheralded medium-fast bowler Eric Upashanta who rocked the New Zealand top order, inflicting more misery on batsmen who have been struggling for runs in domestic cricket in recent weeks.
Nathan Astle was caught behind for one, two balls later Stephen Fleming went for a duck, Mathew Sinclair imploded with an unecessary drive while Craig McMillan tried to get off the mark for eight balls then on the ninth let loose a volley which provided Sanath Jayasuriya with no problems at all at mid-off.
Upasantha could hardly have written the script better himself. He had 4/37 off eight overs when rested, his best career figures, and he had all but put New Zealand out of the game.
Jayasuriya might have gone into the game without the injured Chaminda Vaas, but he was still able to call up his spinning maestro Mutiah Muralitharan. He quickly disposed of Roger Twose for 23, Adam Parore for two and Daniel Vettori for 11. Twose and Vettori were both trapped leg before wicket and Muralitharan had three for 14 from six overs.
Napier's McLean Park has been a happy hunting ground for him over the years. It was here that he bowled his side to a Test victory over New Zealand in 1996/96.
He seems set to enjoy another triumph later tonight.
Chris Harris and James Franklin were picking their way through the minefield and after 30 overs the score was 103/7 with Harris 20 and Franklin six not out.
New Zealand was 47/4 with Roger Twose on 10 and Chris Harris already at the wicket and on two.
Eric Upasantha was the destroyer and he quickly raced to the best figures of his one-day career with four for 29 off seven overs.
The malaise that has afflicted top order batting in New Zealand's one-day cricket this year was seen again when Nathan Astle and Stephen Fleming were back in the pavilion within two balls of each other in the fourth over of the innings.
The situation could have been even worse. Mathew Sinclair was dropped on 22 when hitting a slower ball from Nuwan Zoysa back to the bowler only for him to drop it.
Then in Upashantha's next over Roger Twose on one almost played the ball onto his stumps. Twose took 11 balls before he scored.
Sinclair was the most aggressive of all the batsman but on 25, he tried to attack once too often and hit a ball on the up to Mutiah Muralitharan in the covers. New Zealand was 35/3 after 11.1 overs and in deep trouble against an attack that was hardly fearsome.
Nine balls without scoring proved too much for Craig McMillan. Not content to play out what probably would have been the last balls of Upasantha before he had a break, he wound up a big drive and hit it straight to Sanath Jayasuriya at mid-off. New Zealand was 40/4.
Vettori's return after the loss in the Zimbabwe series emphasised with his outstanding bowling just how important he has become to the complete game plan of the side.
From the moment he was given the job of pegging back the run rate which had soared to nearly seven an over, Vettori bowled as if he had never been away from the side. He hadn't bowled at international level since returning after the first Test in Zimbabwe in September.
A previously undetected stress fracture in his back was revealed and he had a complete break until earlier this month when he returned to bowl for his association Northern Districts in the latter rounds of the Shell Cup. He was on the end of a Craig Spearman assault as Central Districts beat Northern Districts in the Shell Cup final.
But he marked his return to the international stage today with a fine bowling display, taking 3/21 from his 10 overs. He probed superbly at the batsmen and was unlucky to have several close appeals for leg before wicket go against him.
But he did pick up two of Sri Lanka's best batsmen Mahela Jayawardene and Aravinda de Silva leg before wicket while Marvan Atapattu was caught at the wicket.
Chris Harris, predictably, backed up Vettori's effort by having 0/33 from his 10 overs and James Franklin bowled nine to take 1/33.
Russel Arnold and Kumar Dharmasena added 61 runs in a lively partnership for the sixth wicket. However, a superb piece of athleticism from Chris Harris at wide mid wicket, and just inside the fielding circle, ended Dharmasena's innings.
Dharmasena really wound into a full ball but a splendidly-time leap from Harris saw him pull the ball in easily. A demonstration of his continuing class in the field.
Arnold played a battling innings to get to 50 off 65 balls, with a six and a four. But just after getting his 50 he took on Chris Martin's arm and paid the price when run out.
Martin's developing bowling skills were seen again as he claimed Sanath Jayasuriya's wicket in his second over, then when he returned for the 47th he had Eric Upashantha caught behind by Parore for one. However, there is still work to be done on his bowling at the death as he conceded 15 runs off his last over with his last ball hit for six. He finished with a disappointing 2/56.
There was also cause for concern in the camp over the number of no-balls and wides the New Zealand attack conceded.
New Zealand bowled the equivalent of nearly three extra overs at the Sri Lankans but they still couldn't prosper. Sixteen wides and two no-balls made up a sizeable portion of the Sri Lankan runs.
Apart from the expense caused by Andrew Penn's complete loss of control, all the New Zealand bowlers had too much on the Sri Lankans who had the life squeezed out of their batting.
It was a reflection of the one-day cricket that has been played in New Zealand this summer in domestic cricket.
He took the wickets of Marvan Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene in the space of six balls to pull the Sri Lankan scoring back and have them 95/4 after 23 overs.
Atapattu had become cast on 20 for nearly six overs and was just starting to free up when he was caught by wicket-keeper Adam Parore, at the second attempt, from Vettori.
Jayawardene was beaten by a good ball and survived an appeal for leg before wicket the ball before there was no escape from umpire Brent Bowden's finger of dismissal.
In his next over it was Aravinda de Silva who survived an appeal for leg before wicket and was then dropped by Parore from the next ball.
At that stage, after 26 overs, it was 12 overs since a boundary had been scored by Sri Lanka and the run rate, which during the first 20 overs was ticking along at nearly 4.5 runs per over, had slowed down to 3.89 after 27.
De Silva was the main hope left in the batting and showed his intention to attack when pulling a ball from James Franklin high to mid wicket for four.
After 30 overs, Sri Lanka was 116/4 with De Silva 17 not out and Russel Arnold on six.
Vettori had 2/15 from seven overs.
It was an action-packed first 15 overs as Sri Lanka reached 70/2 with Marvan Atapattu 20 not out, although scoreless since the 10th over, while Mahela Jayawardene was 19 not out.
From only the third ball of the innings, Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya misjudged the pace of a ball from Chris Martin and took a painful blow to the ribs which required treatment for five minutes.
Then Andrew Penn marred his return to international play by conceding 19 runs from his second over, seven of them from wides. He was relieved immediately and his replacement James Franklin celebrated with the first ball of his second over by claiming the wicket of Kumar Sangakkara for 12.
Earlier Martin, generating some hostile pace, had Jayasuriya caught for four. The catch should have been taken by New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming at first slip. But the ball spilled forward from his hands.
Just when it seemed Jayasuriya would get away with it, wicket-keeper Adam Parore slipped his glove beneath the ball before it hit the ground.
After Martin and Franklin had pegged back the scoring rate, a near run out of Marvan Atapattu by Mathew Sinclair as he attempted a quick single from Martin, turned into a five when Daniel Vettori tried to run out Mahela Jayawardena at the bowler's end. However, there was no-one backing up and the ball ran away for four runs.
Sri Lanka's 50 came up from 54 balls.
When Penn was switched to replace Martin after his first six overs were completed at a cost of 25 runs, he created the loudest cheer of the afternoon when bowling a maiden.
It proved a short-lived recovery as his first three balls of his next over, the 15th, were wides, with the third ball a wide as well.
New Zealand left Jacob Oram out of its side while the Sri Lankan 12th man is Avishka Gunawardene and not playing are Romesh Kaluwitharana, Chaminda Vaas and Ruchia Perera.
The pitch for the game is a new one and looks to have more speed to it than that used for the recent Shell Cup semi-final.
Conditions in Napier were fine at the start of play although the forecast this evening was not encouraging with rain forecast. If it does rain the match will be completed on the scheduled day if at all possible. If it is not able to be concluded today, it will continue tomorrow until finished.
Rulings on what will happen were released before play started.
If team A bats for 50 overs, and team B faces rain interruptions and its number of overs is reduced, but futher interruption doesn't allow them to complete the reduced overs on the scheduled day then the game will carry over to the reserve day when the reduced number of overs for team B will be completed.
If team A does not complete its innings on the scheduled day then the game will continue on the reserve day from the position it finished on the scheduled day, that is, it will not be re-started.
If over the scheduled day and reserve day each team has not been able to receive at least 25 overs, except where either team has been dismissed or scored the runs required to win within those 25 overs, no result will be declared.
New Zealand - Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Mathew Sinclair, Roger Twose, Craig McMillan, Chris Harris, Adam Parore, James Franklin, Daniel Vettori, Andrew Penn, Chris Martin. Jacob Oram (12th man).
Sri Lanka - Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Marvin Atapattu, Russel Arnold, Mahela Jayawadene, Aravinda de Silva, Kumar Sangakkara, Mutiah Muralitharan, Nuwan Zoysa, Dilhara Fernando, Kumar Dharmasena, Eric Upashantha. Avishka Gunawardene (12th man).
© CricInfo
Date-stamped : 31 Jan2001 - 14:58