World Cup

[The AlchemistTop contributor]

Whose up watching the start ! Got to be really hardcore to be up ! Looks like a tricky wicket to start with just like some of the results out today.

[sereneTop contributor]

Oho Alchem all the best wish your effort would be duly rewarded.

I can recall the days we used to watch the matches irrespective of the time .

[කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වාTop contributor]

Million Dollar Crowd Catch
If SL players catching was as good as this ?

[NuinthTop contributor]

සංගක්කාර ලෝකයේ දෙවනි තැනට
2015-02-14 10:51:22 Views - 603
එක්දින ක‍්‍රිකට් ඉතිහාසයේ වැඩිම ලකුණු ලාභීන් අතර දෙවැන්නා වීමට කුමාර් සංගක්කාර අද සමත් වුණා. ඒ නවසීලන්තය සමග පැවැත්වූ ලොක කුසලාන පළමු තරගයේදීයි. එහිදී සංගක්කාර ලබාගත් ලකුණු සංඛ්‍යාව 39ක්. ඒ අනුව එක්දින ක‍්‍රිකට් තරගවලදී ඔහු රැස්කරගෙන තිබෙන මුළු ලකුණු සංඛ්‍යාව 13,732ක් වනවා.

මෙම ලැයිස්තුවේ සංගක්කාරට වඩා ඉදිරියෙන් සිටින්නේ සචින් ටෙන්ඩුල්කාර් පමණයි. රිකී පොන්ටින් තුන්වන ස්ථානයේත්, සනත් ජයසූරිය 4වන ස්ථානයේ සහ මහේල ජයවර්ධන 5වන ස්ථානයේත් පසුවනවා.

Most runs
Player Span Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 0
SR Tendulkar (India) 1989-2012 463 452 41 18426 200* 44.83 21367 86.23 49 96 20
KC Sangakkara (Asia/ICC/SL) 2000-2015 398* 374 39 13732 169 40.99 17575 78.13 21 93 15
RT Ponting (Aus/ICC) 1995-2012 375 365 39 13704 164 42.03 17046 80.39 30 82 20
ST Jayasuriya (Asia/SL) 1989-2011 445 433 18 13430 189 32.36 14725 91.20 28 68 34
DPMD Jayawardene (Asia/SL) 1998-2015 442* 414 39 12525 144 33.40 15856 78.99 18 77 28
- See more at: http://offair.nethfm.com/article/12983#sthash.nk7l4ULY.dpuf

[BackstageTop contributor]

MUTTIAH MURALIDARAN: Win the toss and do not get too hung up on de Villiers

Sri Lanka need to focus on getting de Villiers in early and force him to adapt his game to those circumstances says legendary spinner

Share this article:
I have two messages for the Sri Lanka squad and captain Angelo Mathews ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup quarter-final against South Africa in Sydney: win the toss and do not get too hung up thinking about AB de Villiers.

The toss, I believe, will play a vital part in the outcome of the match. The side batting first in One-Day Internationals at the Sydney Cricket Ground wins 58 per cent of the time according to the statistics but, in the pressure of a knock-out match as this one is, I reckon the advantage of runs on the board counts for even more than that figure suggests.

It is a ground I know very well – I played eight ODIs there – and if you can get past 300, especially in a one-off clash with so much at stake then, unless you bowl very badly, you are very much in the driving seat.

Australia showed against Sri Lanka the value of big runs on the board at the venue so that although Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Dinesh Chandimal played brilliantly, it was just too difficult to maintain the required rate of more than seven runs per over throughout the innings.

Sri Lanka played with real freedom in that chase knowing they were already heading to the quarter-finals, but that freedom might not be possible now the matches become all-or-nothing affairs.

A total in excess of 300 batting first means the side needing to get those runs has to go at a run a ball from the outset and, if wickets go down and the run-rate increases, and in the knowledge of it being a win or bust encounter, batsmen’s brains can get scrambled very easily.

You can add to that, too, the fact that of the matches South Africa have played in the competition so far, all their wins have come batting first and both their losses – against India and Pakistan – have come chasing.

South Africa have a reputation for buckling at the business end of major tournaments with the last one they won being the ICC Knock-Out – the forerunner to the ICC Champions Trophy – way back in 1998.

That is a major monkey on their collective back, especially when media and the public remind them of it every time this stage of an event comes around. At the same time though, Sri Lanka have no such hang-up having won the ICC World Twenty20 last year and reaching the World Cup final in each of the past two editions.

So, providing the pitch is a decent one then if the coin comes down in Mathews’ favour on Wednesday I think it would be advantage Sri Lanka, even before a ball has been bowled.

As for de Villiers, I just hope the Sri Lanka squad does not put itself under undue pressure by focusing too much on the importance of his wicket.

Yes, he is the Proteas’ key man, as he has shown both through this tournament and over a number of years, and he will have great recent memories of the SCG given his demolition of the West Indies attack there last month with his unbeaten 162 from just 66 balls.

I know first-hand how tough he is to bowl at and in recent years, when we were together in the Indian Premier League, I marveled at the range of shots he possessed. He is quick on his feet, inventive and his no fear approach puts bowlers under pressure from the word go.

And of course you would expect Sri Lanka’s bowlers to have studied videos of his recent batting and have plans of how to contain him and to dismiss him. But putting him on a pedestal beyond that level of basic planning would do them no good at all.

After all, South Africa’s batting line-up is no one-man band. There are Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, David Miller and JP Duminy for starters who can hurt you badly, and that ignores what the less experienced Rilee Rossouw and Farhaan Behardien can do as well.

Instead of that, what Sri Lanka need to focus on is taking early wickets and getting de Villiers in as quickly as possible because if they can do that then he will need to adapt his game to those circumstances.

If he comes in with a platform laid, wickets in hand and the field spread then that is a licence for mayhem, especially against a Sri Lanka attack that has struggled to contain opponents throughout this World Cup. But if de Villiers comes in at 80-3, especially in a big chase, then that could be a different story entirely.

In any case, from a Sri Lanka perspective, we know that South Africa’s bowlers will have just as much food for thought about Kumar Sangakkara and asking how they restrict him and how they get him out, following on from his four successive hundreds. If I was in charge of the final Sri Lanka team meeting then that would be a major theme of mine: forget how much they can hurt us with the bat; we can hurt them just as much, or even more.

As for where the pressure lies in this match, I think most of it is fairly and squarely on South Africa’s shoulders. And I say that for several reasons.

One, I have already touched upon, is South Africa’s historical fallibility in knock-out matches and, whether they like it or not, the players of both sides will be aware of that fact.

But for Sri Lanka, by and large, the pressure is off. I say that because, although the side has a fantastic record of getting to the business end of major tournaments and competing, they are still rarely regarded as a favourite team, an honour that usually resides with Australia or India or, in this case, New Zealand too. It means Sri Lanka can operate below the radar and that is the way to be.

On top of that, no outsider has ever really given Sri Lanka a chance of winning this World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, in conditions just about as far removed from home as you can imagine. So that is a weight of expectation removed.

Are the likes of Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena under pressure knowing that every match could be their last, ahead of their imminent retirements? I do not think so because they are professional enough and experienced enough to do their preparation and trust that preparation to carry them along. They have played in World Cup finals too before, remember.

The only pressure Sri Lanka has is the knowledge that if left-arm spinner Rangana Herath is not fit and Mathews is not fit to bowl then the attack, as has been the case throughout the tournament, can appear a bit threadbare. But on the basis you cannot reinvent players, least of all midway through a tournament, you just have to make the best of things and get on with it.

The reality is this is a mouthwatering prospect. It is the business end of the biggest tournament in the world, both sides have worries, both have world-class players and, on paper at least, there is no obvious favourite.

All the same, I have strong belief in Sri Lanka’s chances – especially if Mathews wins that toss.

2015 © ICC Development (International) Limited

[BackstageTop contributor]

IS THIS OUR FINAL GAME? Maybe not

The World Cup quarter finalists have been found. Over the course of 6 preliminary games the quality, depth and experience of the established teams proved too much for the occasional brilliance of the Associate Nations, and the not so brilliant England.
In their final group match v Scotland, borne more out of necessity than design, Sri Lanka finally opted for a 4 bowler attack. Kulasekara returning in place of Senanayake, and World Cup debutants Kusal Janith and Chameera coming in for Tharanga and the injured Chandimal. The dropping of a batsman had little or no impact on the batting effort as Sangakkara re-wrote the record books with his 4th consecutive century – a record at World Cups, and a record in all ODI's. Dilshan eased to his second century of the tournament and Angelo blasted a 20-ball half-century as Sri Lanka ended on 363.

2015-03-17 02:00:00


IS THIS OUR FINAL GAME? Maybe not

By Jehan Mubarak


The World Cup quarter finalists have been found. Over the course of 6 preliminary games the quality, depth and experience of the established teams proved too much for the occasional brilliance of the Associate Nations, and the not so brilliant England.
In their final group match v Scotland, borne more out of necessity than design, Sri Lanka finally opted for a 4 bowler attack. Kulasekara returning in place of Senanayake, and World Cup debutants Kusal Janith and Chameera coming in for Tharanga and the injured Chandimal. The dropping of a batsman had little or no impact on the batting effort as Sangakkara re-wrote the record books with his 4th consecutive century – a record at World Cups, and a record in all ODI's. Dilshan eased to his second century of the tournament and Angelo blasted a 20-ball half-century as Sri Lanka ended on 363.


Scotland were never really in with a chance and it gave our bowlers and Angelo some freedom to experiment and a chance to rest himself. Despite being the most expensive bowler, Chameera picked up three wickets and has genuine pace, clocking 148 at times. Many of those 221 runs were coming off edges behind the wicket, and always had Mahela interested at first slip. Kulasekara was back to his miserly self and getting the ball to come back nicely into the right handers. Despite the lack of bowling form of Perera and the absence of Herath, this attack looks far more potent and should be persisted with.


Sri Lanka ended 3rd in Pool B (after New Zealand barely scraped through against Bangladesh), and play the 1st quarter final at the SCG v South Africa. We have had great success against South Africa at home and the SCG is the closest to home we can get at this World Cup.


Sangakkara, in his imperious form, together with the reliable Dilshan, form the backbone of the Sri Lankan batting, and a tweak of the batting order to have Kusal at the top and Thirimanne at 6 will get us (finally..) to the best balanced line-up. Whether they will drop Thirimanne down the order remains to be seen, but I would recommend it. Thisara Perera's form with bat and ball has been poor. But his ability to clear the ropes with ease, something he has done several times against South Africa, should keep him in the team. I would use him specifically against Tahir and Duminy, South Africa's key spinners, and force AB to bring on his death bowlers earlier than planned. Jayawardena, since his hundred against Afghanistan, has been quiet and not had much to do, apart from the game against Australia where he ran himself out. I suspect he will be called upon before the end of the tournament, but perhaps not on Wednesday.


Towards the business end of the tournament, pitches will have more wear and tear, and Sri Lanka can use the conditions by taking pace off the ball. The spinners of both teams will have a huge role to play and therein lies the key to Sri Lanka's success - Rangana Herath.


His fitness and post-injury effectiveness with his spinning finger will decide the outcome of the South African innings, and quite possibly the game. Dilshan will also have to bowl his quota of overs against the many South African left handers, although I do hope that Angelo will not shy away from bowling Herath, simply because of left handed batsmen. If he is not fit, that's a huge loss for Sri Lanka, almost as big as losing Sangakkara.


The explosive batting line-up of Amla, Faf, AB, Miller, Duminy and Roussow, who all like the ball coming on to the bat, and the slower balls of Malinga and Mathews will be more than useful. Chameera has the license to speed, and I feel would be worth a gamble early on against Amla with a couple of slips in place. He can also bowl a good yorker, which I hope he has been practising in the nets, and will be useful in the powerplay and death, if Kulasekara goes for runs.
Like Sri Lanka, bowling is South Africa's weakest link, and this may very well be a battle between the two batting units to decide the outcome of the game. In that department Sri Lanka's experience may hold a slight edge over Amla's consistency and AB's innovation.


At the 2003 World Cup, Sri Lanka played South Africa in the last league game at Durban. It was decisive. With rain clouds looming and South Africa chasing 268, with Messrs Duckworth-Lewis ready to make an appearance, the two 12th men ran on to the field with bottles of water, a piece of paper and clear instructions. One of those twelfth men was Nicky Boje, and I was the other.
Unbelievably, the two of us conveyed two different messages, resulting in Pollock playing his part in one of the biggest cock-ups in cricket history as the hosts were knocked out of the World Cup.
The tag of 'chokers' has followed the South African team like the plague, and will continue to do so until they win a major tournament. None of the current squad members were in the '99 or '03 teams. Yet, pressure does strange things to even the greatest sportsmen.


The Proteas have already come unstuck twice against Asian opposition.
Sri Lanka on the field and Sangakkara behind the stumps will know that. It will make for an exciting game of cricket with plenty of runs, and if Angelo wins the toss and we chase – a Sri Lankan victory. You heard it here first.