Wow, this weekend was exciting, though a part of the excitement was washed out. Australia took on Sri Lanka in a replay of last edition's final, which too was marred by the conditions. Sri Lanka batted first, and recovered from the early loss of Dilshan and Tharanga. Sangakkara scored an unbeaten 73, but never got to complete his innings as the heavens opened and the poor Sri Lankan fans in Colombo got to see only 32.5 of the 100 overs they had paid for.
South Africa failed to shake off the 'chokers' tag as they made a mess of what should have been an easy target of 172. England made their humble score after Tahir and Peterson ripped through the batting line-up, with only Bopara and Trott making any attempt to steady the inflow of runs. The African side started their chase well, but some good bowling by the Englishmen meant that SA lost seven wickets for just 21 runs and finished a mere six runs short of their target. The English hopes of a first ever World Cup win, dented after a tie and a loss, were revived!
There was a lot of hype around the India match. True, it's an Associate nation they were playing, but a talented one at that. And an India match is an India match.
India opted to field, and a surprising five-wicket haul by Yuvraj Singh, a part-time spinner included the wicket of record-setter Kevin O'Brien for just 9. Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel also pitched in and got the visitors for 207, a target which a team with a batting line-up like India's should have got in around 35 overs. However, the fiery Sehwag was removed early, which I guess slowed it down considerably. They ambled along the middle overs, losing the occasional wicket. Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh brought the Men in Blue close to the target, and after the skipper's departure, Yusuf Pathan finished the game in his inimitable style. The man of the match was expectedly Yuvi, being the first man to score a fifty and get a five-for in the same match in World Cups.
More dhamaka expected over the next few weeks!
South Africa failed to shake off the 'chokers' tag as they made a mess of what should have been an easy target of 172. England made their humble score after Tahir and Peterson ripped through the batting line-up, with only Bopara and Trott making any attempt to steady the inflow of runs. The African side started their chase well, but some good bowling by the Englishmen meant that SA lost seven wickets for just 21 runs and finished a mere six runs short of their target. The English hopes of a first ever World Cup win, dented after a tie and a loss, were revived!
There was a lot of hype around the India match. True, it's an Associate nation they were playing, but a talented one at that. And an India match is an India match.
India opted to field, and a surprising five-wicket haul by Yuvraj Singh, a part-time spinner included the wicket of record-setter Kevin O'Brien for just 9. Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel also pitched in and got the visitors for 207, a target which a team with a batting line-up like India's should have got in around 35 overs. However, the fiery Sehwag was removed early, which I guess slowed it down considerably. They ambled along the middle overs, losing the occasional wicket. Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh brought the Men in Blue close to the target, and after the skipper's departure, Yusuf Pathan finished the game in his inimitable style. The man of the match was expectedly Yuvi, being the first man to score a fifty and get a five-for in the same match in World Cups.
More dhamaka expected over the next few weeks!
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