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Pollock’s all
round efforts keeps SA’s hopes alive |
October 24, 2006 (Link to
Scorecard)
 Sri
Lanka who were tipped to be one of the
favourites to win this edition of the Champions
Trophy found themselves close to getting knocked
out following a 78-run defeat in the hands of
South Africa. Apart from England, it is now
clearly evident that any side can beat the other
in this tournament as the pitches although being
sluggish in nature have been sporting giving
equal opportunity to both batsmen and bowlers.
The Lankans were chasing 220 which was thought
to be a moderate target as the two openers
Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga walked in.
It wasn’t going to be that easy for the Proteas
as the dew was expected to play its part pretty
soon. But a tidy spell with the new ball from
Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini saw the pair of
Jayasuriya and Tharanga bogged down. The pitch
now looked difficult to play the free flowing
shots. Tharanga who was frustrated by this went
for a booming drive on the up and a thick
outside edge was spilled down by Jacques Kallis
in the slips. It was just the 5th over when
Pollock had drawn the first blood trapping
Sanath Jayasuriya plumb in front but the umpire
Daryl Harper was wrong in giving that out lbw as
the ball had pitched marginally outside the
legstump. The Proteas were right on top of the
batsmen as there were plenty of leading edges,
uppish shots as the Lankans became too edgy with
the runs not coming at a steady pace.
The South Africans were in the driver’s seat
once they picked up three wickets in the space
of 26 deliveries to leave their opposition at 34
for 4. There was a resistance following that in
form of Jayawardene and Dilshan which was just
44 runs worth as the Sri Lankan Skipper,
Jayawardene was magically run out by Pollock in
the 25th over. Mahela could make 36 from 50
balls with the help of 4 boundaries and his exit
saw his team down and out at 78 for 5. It was
too much of a task for the all rounders who
couldn’t put any rearguard action and the Sri
Lankans folded to 141 all out inside 40 overs.
Shaun Pollock finished with 2 for 21 in his 10
while Makhaya Ntini picked up 2 for 24 in 9.
Andre Nel the back up seamer was the successful
with three wickets.
Early on it was Mahela Jayawardene who had won
the toss to put SA to bat first at the Sardar
Patel Stadium in Motera. Both sides had made a
change each with SL bringing back Dilhara
Fernando for Chamara Kapugedera and SA getting
AB de Villiers for Andrew Hall. The Proteas were
off to a dismal start losing their top three
batsmen with just 30 runs on the board. Any
further damage was prevented by Jacques Kallis
and AB de Villiers who put on a slow 80 for the
fourth wicket. Kallis made 43 from 71 balls
which had two fours and a six. AB de Villers
scored his second half century in his career. He
could make 54 from 88 balls with three fours.
Shaun Pollock and Robin Peterson were
responsible in the end to take their side to 219
for 9. Pollock remained unbeaten on a 17-ball 21
with one six and Peterson smashed a 16-ball 22
which also included a six. Lasith Malinga took
four wickets but was expensive going for 53 in 9
overs. Chaminda Vaas was very impressive taking
two wickets conceding just 16 runs in his 10
overs.
For his all round efforts, Shaun Pollock was
declared as the Man of the Match. Sri Lanka have
played all their three group games losing two of
them and are virtually out of the tournament.
They would be requiring Pakistan to win both
their matches against New Zealand and South
Africa to have any slender hopes of staying in
the tournament.
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