New Zealand fare poorly with bat in World Cup semi-final

By Suneer Chowdhary

 

With the media and fan focus on the second semi-final that has been unkindly described as a war by some, the first semi-final could well have been referred to the 'other remaining game’.  The manner in which New Zealand emulated what England had done in the quarter-final with the bat would have only made matters worse for this low-profile semi-final.

By Suneer Chowdhary

 

Colombo: Mar 29, 2011

 

With the media and fan focus on the second semi-final that has been unkindly described as a war by some, the first semi-final could well have been referred to the ‘other remaining game’.  The manner in which New Zealand emulated what England had done in the quarter-final with the bat would have only made matters worse for this low-profile semi-final.

 

For the second vital game in a row, Sri Lanka lost the toss at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo and had to field. And for the second successive time, the script went exactly the same way. The Sri Lankan spinners managed to throttle the New Zealand batsmen, the Black Caps tried to maintain their wickets for a final slog, but with the likes of Lasith Malinga and the quality slower bowlers coming at them as regularly as they did, New Zealand failed in their endeavour to get to more than 250. Or even 220.

 

There were occasions in the game when one thought that New Zealand had a chance to get away from the home team. There was a 32-run stand for the first wicket in seven overs and both openers seemed to have got a good measure of the track before Brendon McCullum tried a sweep too many off Rangana Herath to be bowled. Earlier, he had hit Herath for a six off that same stroke.

 

Again, Jesse Ryder and Martin Guptill resurrected well, undid the damage that the wicket had caused and got the total to 69/1 in the 19^th. At this stage, the run-rate had reduced but there was ample fuel in the tank to push the pedal a little further. Instead, Ryder cut one from Muralitharan to the wicket-keeper while Malinga produced one of those yorkers which he had last removed from his suitcase against the Kenyans to shuffle the stumps for Guptill. Suddenly, New Zealand had lost two in quick time and were 83 for three and in strife.

 

The wave of recovery followed through a partnership between Ross Taylor and Scott Styris, both playing an innings quite different from each other. While Styris looked like his intentions were positive from after he got settled, Taylor was a pale shadow of the batsman who had blown the Pakistani batsmen off on his birthday.

 

Still, the pair added 77 for the fourth wicket, and while they took 18 overs to do so, at 161 for 3 in 39, the time was ripe for a slog. For the third time in the innings, New Zealand lost a wicket at a stage from where they should have gone the other way – exploded away. Taylor’s long struggle in the middle ended to a short ball from Mendis that should have been pulled into the stands; instead, he spooned it up to the fielder stationed there, as if for the bad ball.

 

Styris got to his half-century and the Batting Powerplay was taken immediately after that. As compared to the English side, who had played in this set of five overs like they were practicing for the next Ashes Test, New Zealand were aggressive. However, the loss of two wickets also reduced the potency of the attack and they ended the Powerplay with 41 to their name.

 

Where the New Zealanders missed out was in the overs after the Powerplay, as the set Styris fell to Muralitharan for 57 with three overs to spare. The rest of the three wickets fell for the addition of four runs and the Kiwis were bowled out in the 49^th over for 217.

 

Brief Scores: New Zealand 217 all out in 48.5 overs (Scott Styris 57, Martin Guptill 39, Ross Taylor 36; Lasith Malinga 3 for 55, Ajantha Mendis 3 for 35, Muttiah Muralitharan 2 for 42) vs Sri Lanka.

 

 

(Suneer is a Mumbai-based cricket writer and can be contacted at suneerchowdhary@gmail.com and Tweets here @suneerchowdhary)

 

Pictures © Getty Images

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