World Cup: Sri Lanka survive Kiwis late assault to reach final

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka succeeded in reaching the World Cup final for second time in a row after avoiding late bowling assault by New Zealand here at the R Premadasa Stadium on Tuesday.

Chasing 218, the co-hosts reached the target to beat the Kiwis by five wickets with 13 balls to spare in the first day-night semi-final as veteran off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan said goodbye to his home crowd.

Opener Tillekaratna Dilshan (73) and captain Kumar Sangakkara (54) hit half-cneturies to set a foundation for Sri Lanka’s victory to qualify for the World Cup final for the third time and second in succession.

They had won the final in 1996 at Lahore, Pakistan but lost it in 2007 at Kingston, Jamaica.

Sri Lanka play the winners of Wednesday”s semi-final between India and Pakistan in Mohali.

Muralitharan took his 534th wicket off his last ball on home soil as New Zealand were bowled out for a below-par score of 217 in 48.5 overs.

Muralitharan, who last year retired from Tests after finishing as the highest wicket-taker with 800, now aims to win his second title — after being part of the 1996 Cup winning squad — in Saturday”s final in Mumbai.

Sri Lanka, cruising along at 160-1, lost four wickets in the space of 25 runs to raise fears of an unlikely defeat before Thilan Samaraweera (23 not out) and Angelo Mathews (14 not out) guided them home with an unbroken 35-run stand.

New Zealand, who for the sixth time failed in a World Cup semi-final, seemed to be succumbing like England did during their 10-wicket quarter-final defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka, but they staged a brave rearguard action.

It was 34-year-old Dilshan who was once again in rampaging mood, taking the co-hosts to 40 by the eighth over in the company of Upul Tharanga who fell after scoring a 31-ball 30 with four boundaries and a six.

Dilshan then found an equally aggressive and in-form partner in captain Sangakkara as they added 120 for the second wicket, before Dilshan played straight into the hands of Jesse Ryder off Tim Southee.

Dilshan hit 10 boundaries and a six during his 93-ball knock. He also became the top run-getter of the tournament with 467.

Sri Lanka then lost Mahela Jayawardene (one) and Sangakkara in the space of eight runs and then Chamara Silva (13) before the team held their nerve.

It was Ajantha Mendis (3-35) and Lasith Malinga (3-55), along with Muralitharan (2-42), who kept New Zealand under control after Daniel Vettori won the toss and opted to bat.

Scott Styris, who top scored with 57, added 77 for the fourth wicket with Ross Taylor (36) but the Sri Lankan bowlers never allowed them to run away with a big total, dismissing the Kiwis in 48.5 overs.

Styris and Kane Williamson (22) added 42 in the batting powerplay but New Zealand lost their last seven wickets for just 56 runs.

Sri Lanka once again dismissed hard-hitting Brendon McCullum through a spinner when left-armer Rangana Herath bowled him in the eighth over for 13.

Martin Guptill (39) and Jesse Ryder (19) took the total to 69 before Muralitharan had the big left-hander caught off a quickish delivery.

Soon it became 84-3 when Malinga bowled Guptill with a ferocious yorker after the opener had hit three boundaries off 65 balls.

Final ICC World Cup 2011 Squads of All Teams

Final World Cup Squads of All Teams: All of the teams going to participate in ICC World Cup 2011 have announced their final squads. On the last day of deadline given by ICC, 19 January, New Zealand, Ireland, Kenya, West Indies, Bangladesh, Netherlands and South Africa announced their squads on the final day of the deadline. Rest of the teams has already announced their squads. After the announcement of their final squads by all boards the process of selection for mega event has ended. The squads of different teams are listed below.

(1) Australia:

Ricky Ponting (Captain), Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Michael Hussey, David Hussey,
Cameron White, Tim Paine, Steven Smith, John Hastings, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Brett Lee,
Shaun Tait, Doug Bollinger

(2) India:

MS Dhoni (Captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli,
Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh,
Ashwin Kumar, Piyush Chawla.

(3) Sri Lanka:

Kumar Sangakkara (Captain), Mahela Jayawardene (vice-captain), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga,
Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Nuwan
Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath.

(4) South Africa:

Graeme Smith (Captain), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers , JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Colin
Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robbie Peterson, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir,
Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Morne van

(5) England:

Andrew Strauss (captain), Matt Prior, Ian Bell, , Paul Collingwood, Tim Bresnan, Eoin Morgan, Kevin
Pietersen, James Tredwell, Luke Wright, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, Michael Yardy, James Anderson,
Stuart Broad, Ajmal Shahzad

(6) Pakistan:

Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar
Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Sohail
Tanvir, Ahmed Shehzad
The captain name is not announced yet by PCB.

(7) New Zealand:

Daniel Vettori (Captain), Hamish Bennett, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Jamie How, Brendon
McCullum, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, Ross
Taylor, Kane Williamson, Luke Woodcock

(8) West Indies:

Chris Gayle (Captain), Sulieman Benn, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine,
Andre Fletcher, Wavell Hinds, Nikita Miller, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar
Roach, Darren Sammy, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor

(9) Bangladesh:

Kumar Sangakkara (Captain), Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Thilan
Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara,
Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath.

(10) Ireland:

William Porterfield (Captain), Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, Niall O’Brien (wk), Kevin O’Brien, George
Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, John Mooney, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe,
Gary Wilson, Andrew White, Ed Joyce

(11) Zimbabwe:

Elton Chigumbura (Captain), Regis Chakabva, Charles Coventry, Graeme Cremer, Craig Ervine, Sean
Ervine, Greg Lamb, Shingi Masakadza, Chris Mpofu, Ray Price, Ed Rainsford, Tatenda Taibu, Brendan
Taylor, Prosper Utseya, Sean Williams

(12) Netherlands:

Peter Borren (Captain), Wesley Baressi, Mudassar Bukhari, Atse Buurman, Tom Cooper, Tom de Grooth,
Alexei Kervezee, Bradley Kruger, Bernard Loots, Adeel Raja, Pieter Seelaar, Eric Swarczynski, Ryan Ten
Doeschate, Berend Westdijk, Bas Zuiderent

(13) Kenya:

Jimmy Kamande (Captain), Seren Waters, Alex Obanda, Elijah Otieno, Rakep Patel, David Obuya, Collins
Obuya, Steve Tikolo, Tamnay Mishra, Maurice Ouma, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Thomas Odoyo, Shem
Ngoche, James Ngoche, Peter Ongondo

(14) Canada:

Ashish Bagai (Captain), Rizwan Cheema, Harvir Baidwan, Nitish Kumar, Hiral Patel, Tyson Gordon,
Henry Osinde, John Davison, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Parth Desai, Karl Whatham, Khurram Chohan, Jimmy
Hansra, Zubin Surkari, Balaji Rao, Hamza Tariq

Gayle passes 250 as Windies maintain stranglehold

GALLE: West Indies opener Chris Gayle continued to torment the Sri Lanka attack as he eased to 255 not out by lunch on the second day of the first test on Tuesday, keeping the tourists in complete control of the match.

The hosts bowled a much tighter line to slow down the scoring rate as the West Indies, who resumed on 362 for two, lost Shivnarine Chanderpaul for 32 before going to lunch on a formidable 429-3.

Brendon Nash was the other not out batsman at the interval on 16.

Sri Lanka believed they had trapped Gayle leg before when they used up their second referral of the innings off the first ball of the day when Ajantha Mendis rapped the fully stretched opener on the pads.

However, the decision went in favour of the batsman meaning Sri Lanka had lost out on both referrals.

Gayle was a total contrast to the first day where he belted the Sri

Waugh tips Swann, Mendis and Singh to fill void

SYDNEY: Former Australia captain Steve Waugh tipped Graeme Swann, Ajantha Mendis and Harbhajan Singh to fill the void left by the retirement of spin bowling’s golden generation.

Read the original post:
Waugh tips Swann, Mendis and Singh to fill void

Sri Lanka bat against India in second Test

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat in the second cricket Test against India at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Monday.

India, trailing 1-0 in the three-match series, suffered twin blows when opener Gautam Gambhir and middle-order batsman Yuvraj were ruled out of the key match.

Gambhir has a knee injury, while Yuvraj developed high fever overnight.

The duo will be replaced by left-hand batsman Suresh Raina, making his Test debut after playing 98 one-day internationals, and opener Murali Vijay.

Sri Lanka changed the entire frontline bowling attack that won them the first Test in Galle on 10 wickets.

With Muttiah Muralitharan now retired and fast bowler Lasith Malinga injured, Sri Lanka replaced them with spinner Ajantha Fernando and Dilhara Fernando.

Also out were left-arm spinner Rangana Herath and seamer Chanaka Welegedara. Their places went to debutant off-spinner Suraj Randiv and fast bowler Dammika Prasad.
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Murali Vijay, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Venkatsai Laxman, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Abhimanyu Mithun, Ishant Sharma.

Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Prasanna Jayawardene, Ajantha Mendis, Dilhara Fernando, Suraj Randiv, Dammika Prasad.

Hollywood Park and Zenyatta

Hollywood Park and Zenyatta breaking news updates  :- Jockey Mike Smith aboard Zenyatta celebrates after winning the Vanity Handicap horse race at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif., Sunday, June 13, 2010. Zenyatta has won her 17th consecutive race, giving her the longest winning streak by a modern day thoroughbred in unrestricted races.

Zenyatta won her 17th consecutive race on Sunday, giving her the longest winning streak by a modern day thoroughbred in unrestricted races.

The 6-year-old mare won the $200,000 Vanity Handicap by a half-length at Hollywood Park, rallying with her usual last place move to overtake St Trinians approaching the wire.

Ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith, Zenyatta ran 1 1-8 miles on the synthetic Cushion Track of her home track in 1:49.01 and paid $3 and $2.10 as the overwhelming 1-5 favorite.

Under the race’s handicap conditions, Zenyatta carried high weight of 129 pounds — nine to 17 more than her five rivals.

It was Zenyatta’s record third straight win in the race. She won by 2 1/2 lengths carrying 129 pounds last year, and by a half-length under 124 pounds in 2008.

With the victory, Zenyatta surpassed the 16-race winning streaks of Cigar, 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation, and Mister Frisky.

Zardana was third and Will O Way fourth, followed by Miss Silver Brook and Cherryblossommiss.

There was no show wagering because the track wanted to avoid a huge minus show pool, knowing that the heavily favored Zenyatta would have attracted several hundred thousand dollars in bets.

She won on her bobblehead day.

ICC Twenty20 World Cup 8th Super Eight Match: – Australia vs Sri Lanka | Score Cards

SL vs AUS: -

ICC World Twenty20, 2010
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados
May 9, 2010
Australia won the toss and elected to bat

After losing 5 wickets in just 67 runs, broad-shouldered Cameron White responsibilities with bat and compacted an unbeaten 85 and then took an amazing catch to reduce harmful Tillakaratne Dilshan a return to form as Australia compressed Sri Lanka with 81 starts in his second Super Eights match in Bridgetown on Sunday.

The right-hander whipped Six Fours and six sixes and shared a wonderful partnership of 101 from nine overs with Michael Hussey. Left-handed Hussey made an unbeaten 39 from 26 balls with four fours and a six.

Suraj Randiv claims 3-20 with his off-spin, while medium Pacer Angelo Mathews picked up 2-24.

Challenged to make 169 to win, Sri Lanka actually lost the match in the first seven overs against pace bowling by Dirk Nanna, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson, who together took the wicket of Mahela Jayawardene totem in the third over and five of 49 in the time Johnson had completed a double-wicket first over. Recovery from such ofposition not unlikely, as the Australians showed themselves, but Sri Lanka’s big guns were gone. Johnson ended the match with 16 balls still.

Score Cards:-

Australia Innings: -

Shane Watson b Mathews (4)

David Warner c Jayawardene b Randiv 9(12)

Brad Haddin c Jayasuriya b Mathews 15(10)

Michael Clarke b Randiv 14(20)

David Hussey st Sangakkara b Randiv 0(1)

Cameron White not out 85(49)

Michael Hussey not out 39(26)

Extras: - (lb 2, w 1, nb 2) 5

Total: - (5 wkts, 20 ovs) 168

Sri Lanka Innings: -

Mahela Jayawardene c Smith b Nannes 9(6)

Sanath Jayasuriya lbw b Nannes 5(14)

Kumar Sangakkara c Haddin b Tait 2(3)

Tillakaratna Dilshan c White b Johnson 20(12)

Angelo Mathews c M Hussey b Johnson 8(4)

L Chandimal st Haddin b Smith 19(24)

Chamara Kapugedera b Smith 12(15)

Suraj Randiv run out (Nannes) 2(2)

Lasith Malinga c Smith b Clarke 1(8)

Ajantha Mendis b Johnson 1(7)

Chanaka Welegedara not out 2(3)

Extras: – (lb 2, w 4) 6

Total: - (10 wkts, 16.2 ovs) 87

Man Of Match: – Cameron White

Australia win toss and bat against Sri Lanka

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Australia captain Michael Clarke won the toss and elected to bat against Sri Lanka in a World Twenty20 Super Eights match at the Kensington Oval here on Sunday.

Australia were unchanged from the side that beat India by 49 runs here on Friday.

But Sri Lanka, last year”s losing finalists, made three changes from the team that defeated the West Indies by 57 runs, also at Kensington on Friday.

Star off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, ruled out with a tournament-ending groin injury, was replaced by Suraj Randiv.

Meanwhile Dinesh Chandimal and Chanaka Welegedera replaced Thissara Perera and Nuwan Kulasekara.

Victory for Sri Lanka would eliminate 2007 World Twenty20 champions India from this year”s edition.

Teams
Australia: David Warner, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (wk), Michael Clarke (captain), David Hussey, Cameron White, Michael Hussey, Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait, Dirk Nannes.

Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara (captain/wk), Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis, Suraj Randiv, Chanaka Welegedara.

Umpires: Ian Gould (ENG) and Rudi Koertzen (SA), TV umpire: Billy Doctrove (WI)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZ).

Australia set 169-run target for Lanka

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Australia made 168 for five against Sri Lanka in a World Twenty20 Super Eights match here on Sunday after winning the toss.

White (85*) and Hussey (39*) stood tall amidst ruins as Australia set 169-run target for Sri Lanka in the Super 8s match of the Twenty20 World Cup.

Australia skipper Michael Clarke won the toss and decided to bat against Sri Lanka in a Super Eight game with the winner”s prize being a semifinal berth.

Australia

S. Watson b Mathews 1
D. Warner c Jayawardene b Randiv 9
B. Haddin c Jayasuriya b Mathews 15
M. Clarke b Randiv 14
D. Hussey st Sangakkara b Randiv 0
C. White not out 85
M. Hussey not out 39
Extras (lb2, w1, nb2) 5
Total (5 wkts, 20 overs) 168
Did not bat: S Smith, M Johnson, S Tait, D Nannes
Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Watson), 2-20 (Haddin), 3-30 (Warner), 4-30 (D Hussey), 5-67 (Clarke)
Bowling: Mathews 4-0-24-2; Welegedara 4-0-40-0 (1nb, 1w); Randiv 4-0-20-3; Malinga 4-0-40-0; Mendis 4-0-42-0 (1nb)
Toss: Australia
Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara (capt/wkt), Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis, Suraj Randiv, Chanaka Welegedara

Umpires: Ian Gould (ENG) and Rudi Koertzen (RSA)
TV umpire: Billy Doctrove (WIS)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)

T20 World Cup: – West Indies vs. Sri Lanka 4th Super 8 Match Video Highlights | SL vs. WI Scorecard

ICC World Twenty20, 2010
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados
May 7, 2010
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat

Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and chooses to bat first. He was success in this decision.

Mahela Jayawardene slammed an unbeaten 98 from 56 balls to motivate Sri Lanka to a 57-run victory over hosts West Indies in the World Twenty20 Super Eights Friday.

The in-form Jayawardene hits nine fours and four sixes as the guests compiled 195-3 from 20 overs, the highest total medal.

West Indies vs. Sri Lanka: -

With his captain Kumar Sangakkara, who provided 68 of 49 deliveries, his second seal door stand of 166 was a record partnership for Sri Lanka in Twenty20s.

New-ball pair Nuwan Kulasekara and Angelo Mathews grabbed the key wicket of Gayle and Chanderpaul, correspondingly, within three balls of each other to leave the hosts 23 for two.

Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo played so concrete to put on a stand of 53 but with 50 balls demanded his improvement was too slow, and when they left it was just too much for the lower order to do that wicket fell reasonably from then.

Quick Lasith Malinga made full use of the circumstances and three for 28 while Ajantha Mendis returned three of the 24.

Sri Lanka Innings: -
Mahela Jayawardene not out 98(56)
Sanath Jayasuriya c Taylor b Roach 6(10)
Kumar Sangakkara c Pollard b Bravo 68(49)
Chamara Kapugedera b Roach 6(4)
Tillekaratne Dilshan not out 4(1)
Extras: - (b 1, lb 1, w 11) 13
Total: - (3 wkts, 20 ovs) 195

West Indies Innings: -
Chris Gayle c Mathews b Kulasekara 5(4)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul c Kapugedera b Mathews 11(9)
Ramnaresh Sarwan c & b Mendis 28(33)
Dwayne Bravo c Mathews b Malinga 23(23)
Andre Fletcher b Malinga 16(18)
Keiron Pollard c Kapugedera b Mendis 9(10)
Darren Sammy lbw Malinga 2(3)
Wavell Hinds lbw Mendis 5(7)
Jerome Taylor not out 16(9)
Suleiman Benn not out 6(4)
Extras: - (lb 7, w 10) 17
Total: - (8 wkts, 20 ovs) 138

Man Of Match: – Mahela Jayawardene

West Indies vs Sri Lanka 4th Super 8 Round Match Video

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