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Maharoof has
Windies crashing to a humiliating defeat |
October 14, 2006 (Link to
Scorecard)
 Sri
Lanka have proved everyone that they are strong
contenders for winning this edition of the
Champions Trophy in India. In their last
qualifying match they decimated an equally
strong West Indies side by 9 wickets at the
Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.
Batting first on a dry wicket after winning the
toss, Windies were shot out for a paltry 80 in
30.4 overs, their lowest ever total against Sri
Lanka. Only two batsmen crossed double figures
and Mr.Extras was the second highest scorer with
17 to his name to be behind Wavell Hinds who
fought and fought to get just 28 in 86 balls.
Forget about the West Indian batsmen and the man
who was responsible for a short cricket match
today, a humiliating West Indian defeat was the
22 year old tall and strong Sri Lankan all
rounder Farveez Maharoof who made excellent use
of the pitch conditions which was holding up and
not allowing the ball to come onto the bat.
Maharoof also used the seaming conditions along
with the variation in pace and then the lethal
reverse swing to pick up 6 wickets for 14 in 9
overs. Maharoof made the ball talk and it was a
never ending procession of the West Indies
batsmen coming and going. Lasith Malinga and
Chaminda Vaas bowled important spells as well
taking two wickets apiece.
It was a dream start for the Lankans with
Chaminda Vaas who had returned back to the side
in place of Ruchira Perera forcing the inform
Chris Gayle to nick the fourth legal delivery of
the match behind the wickets. Vaas wasted no
time in catching Sarwan in the crease with the
right hander missing Vaas’s late inswinger and
Lasith Malinga at the other end proved that he
wasn’t a silent partner for Vaas as he got
Chanderpaul to edge one that angled in and left
him in the end. West Indies were at 13 for 3 and
the repair work was in progress through Brian
Lara and Wavell Hinds. The introduction of
Farveez Maharoof saw Brian Lara get back to the
pavilion as well with the left hander deceived
by a delivery that looked like it was slanting
across but straightening to rap him up in front
of the stumps. Brian Lara survived 35 deliveries
scoring 13 runs and the rest of the batsmen
surrendered to Maharoof and co. with the ball
starting to reverse swing pretty early. West
Indies couldn’t even post three figures and it
was for sure a cakewalk for the Lankan Lions.
Maharoof’s magic saw him finish at 6 for 14 in 9
overs.
In reply Sri Lanka did not sweat much to get to
the target although they lost Upul Tharanga in
the first ball of the innings. Tharanga got an
inside edge onto the stumps after dabbing at an
outswinging yorker from Fidel Edwards. That was
the only joy that West Indies could find
throughout the day as they watched helplessly as
Jayasuriya thrashed them for an unbeaten 45
along with Mahela Jayawardene who raced away to
34. Sri Lanka were actually about 15 runs or so
short of their target when the Umpires had taken
the bails off for the supper time or dinner time
which was scheduled at 6 pm local time but
common sense prevailed with the two captains
Lara and Jayawardene deciding to carry on and
Sri Lanka soon got the runs in 13.2 overs. It
would have been a miracle had there been any
other player declared as the Man of the Match
other than Farveez Maharoof.
West Indies in a way were lucky that their bad
day came in this almost insignificant match
rather than a big one during the main draw. The
Brabourne Stadium which is hosting its first
match after a long gap of 11 years has
disappointed with the kind of sluggish wicket it
has provided today. With quite a few matches to
be played in this ground, it looks likely that
there will be some more of these batting
collapses to be seen as the tournament
progresses. The ball was stopping and coming at
the bat which meant that driving on the up was
simply out of the equation. The bounce wasn’t
high enough so the leg before chances for the
batsmen was huge. The only positive for the
batsmen was the deadly quick outfield. All in
all it wasn’t that bad a pitch for a total of 80
to be posted but with some steady start against
the new ball and a disciplined approach with
proper shot selection could have got a total of
220 which should be an ideal one on this type of
wicket. Well with the six games of the
Preliminary Round done and dusted, it is now
that the real tournament begins with India
taking on England at Jaipur tomorrow.
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