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April 24, 2007 (Link to Scorecard)

Sri Lanka have stormed into the Finals of the 2007 World Cup as they beat a clueless New Zealanders on a dry Sabina Park wicket. The Lions were led from the front by their skipper Mahela Jaywardene who made a brilliant hundred that batted the Kiwis out of the game. It was then a surrender to Muttiah Muralitharan which followed a magical opening burst from Lasith Malinga. Although the Kiwis lost by 81 runs, it was simply an embarrassing defeat. Stephen Fleming has infact resigned from his job as the Skipper following this heavy loss.

This will be the second World Cup Final for Sri Lanka, their first one was in 1996 at Lahore and the entire World knows what had happened then. The toss was going to be crucial for the sub continent side today and luck favoured them as Mahela won it and decided to bat first. However, his side was rattled up by the early loss of Sanath Jayasuriya, playing all around a middle stump delivery from Franklin to be bowled for just 1. Sangakkara and Tharanga started to do the repair job but the former played a needless attempted big shot only to be caught at mid on, once again off Franklin's bowling. SL were off to a shaky 67 for 2 in a little over 13 overs. Upul Tharanga at this stage was batting beautifully, he made use of the start he got today. Mahela, his new partner was off to a slow and cautious start but the run rate was kept going at a fair pace by Tharanga's strokeplay. The left hander couldn't get his hundred this time as he was bowled around his legs by Daniel Vettori in the 26th over. Tharanga made 73 from 74 with 9 fours and a six.

The inform Chamara Silva batted fluently with Mahela Jayawardene as the two got SL onto a good platform. But the fourth wicket partnership was cut short to 41 when Chamara Silva was handed a rough lbw decision off the bowling of Shane Bond. Silva made 23 before he was given lbw off an inside edge! Sri Lanka made sure that they did not lose wickets during the slog with some calculated batting from Mahela and Dilshan who made sure that his skipper got enough strike. It was another bad umpiring decision that got a wicket for NZ, Dilshan given out to Oram but not before making a useful contribution of 30 from 27. Sri Lanka were 233 for 5 in the 46th over and they went onto get 289 for 5 towards the end. Skipper Mahela Jayawardene remained unconquered on 115 from 109 balls with 10 fours and three sixes. Russel Arnold was a shrewd operator at the other end getting a couple of smart boundaries to get 14 from 14. It was a maiden World Cup century for Mahela and what a time to score one! The Sri Lankans pounded as many as 102 runs in the final 10 overs as the Kiwis cracked under pressure including Shane Bond who had an off day.

The target of 290 was always going to be a tall order for the Kiwis as none of their batsmen really picked up the variations of Murali in their previous encounter. Add to that the conditions became extremely overcast at Kingston. And New Zealand were out of it when they lost their match winning batsman Stephen Fleming in just the 2nd over. Fleming was rapped up by a quick inswinger from Malinga in just the third ball of the match! The new man to join Peter Fulton was Ross Taylor who got a series of magical deliveries from Lasith Malinga. NZ were going absolutely nowhere! It was now their chance of getting a bad umpiring decision when Ross Taylor was given lbw by Simon Taufel to an away going delivery from Vaas that could have clearly slanted across the offstump. The mistake that Taylor had done was to play right across the line. New Zealand were struggling at 32 for 3 in the 11th over.

Dilhara Fernando who had replaced Malinga in the 9th over had a troubled start having been warned twice by Rudi Koertzen for running on the danger area. And Dilhara was the bowler who was targeted by Scott Styris. The third wicket pair of Fulton and Styris raised the hopes for the Kiwis with a promising partnership. Styris smashed three sixes straight down t he ground. But his innings came to an end as he dragged a big shot to short mid wicket off Dilshan. Styris got 37 from 38 with 2 fours and 2 sixes as New Zealand were back in trouble at 105 for 3. After another couple of overs, Murali replaced Dilshan for his second spell and he took two wickets in two balls to have the match completely in control of SL. The first to go was Jacob Oram , deceived in the air to be caught and bowled and the next delivery saw a top edge from a McCullum sweep shot that was brilliantly caught by Chamara Silva at fine leg. Replays showed that Oram's caught and bowled wasn't a clean one but then the batsman didn't stand his ground, so that was it. New Zealand were soon 115 for 6 when Fulton had chipped Jayasuriya to mid on and then 116 for 7 with Vettori lbw after padding up a doosra from Murali. Fulton was the top scorer with 46 from 77 with two fours and a six.

The injured McMillan who had come up with a runner in Ross Taylor hit a couple of sixes before he backed away from his stumps only to miss a quicker one from Sanath. New Zealand were 149 for 9 when they lost Bond to Murali but eventually they got to 208! This was due to a good last wicket partnership of 59 in 10 overs between Franklin (30 not out from 38 balls) and Jeetan Patel (34 from 38). Murali was the most successful bowler with 4 for 31 in 8 overs. The Man of the Match was undoubtedly Mahela Jayawardene. Sri Lanka will have three days off before playing the big final at Bridgetown which will be against the winner of Australia-South Africa Semi-Final!

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