2098dThe Bulletin by Andrew Miller

Tharanga and Dilshan crush England

Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga put their team within touching distance of the World Cup semi-finals, as they overcame a tricky start to their innings to lay into England's bowlers with an unbeaten first-wicket stand of 132

Match Centre

Statistics

Best performances - Batsmen

TM Dilshan
TM Dilshan
108(115) 10x4 - 2x6
Control %70%
  • Productive Shot
  • off side drive on front foot
  • 45 runs
  • 6x4 - 1x6
7 3 14 19 31 14 2 18
WU Tharanga
WU Tharanga
102(122) 12x4 - 1x6
Control %74%
  • Productive Shot
  • off side drive on front foot
  • 32 runs
  • 5x4 - 0x6
0 6 20 4 13 28 8 23

Best performances - Bowlers

M Muralidaran
O9
M0
R54
W2
Eco6.00
RHB
OFFLEG
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
AD Mathews
AD Mathews
O5
M0
R20
W1
Eco4.00
RHB
OFFLEG
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH

Match Details

Toss

England , elected to bat first

Player Of The Match

Series result

Sri Lanka advanced

Match number

Season

Hours of play (local time)

14.30 start, First Session 14.30-18.00, Interval 18.00-18.45, Second Session 18.45-22.15

Match days

26 March 2011 - day/night match (50-over match)

TV Umpires

Reserve Umpire

Match Referee

Scorer: S Balasubramanian | Commentator: Andrew McGlashan

Dilshan is down on the ground and can barely move, he'll need helping off the park. But it's party time in Sri Lanka. They are through to a semi-final on Tuesday against New Zealand on this ground. They'll be big favourites and are strong contenders for the title. It's England's fifth 10-wicket defeat in ODIs, their third against Sri Lanka, and was a proper humping. This is the highest total chased without a single wicket lost in a World Cup match surpassing the 221 by West Indies against Pakistan in 1992.

England were never in the game, losing early wickets and struggling for momentum throughout the innings. This time there was no inspiration with the ball and, frankly, the team looked spent long before the finish. It's been a long winter for then but, the bottom line is, they remain an average one-day team especially away from home. Sri Lanka showed that up with a varied bowling attack and positive batting. Stay with us for the presentation shortly.

Andrew Strauss "We thought the total was 30 light and it was more like 50 light. We thought pressure was a factor if we could get early wickets but we couldn't do it. We've been thoroughly beaten by a better side today. They were able to bowl a lot of dot balls at us to build pressure. We weren't able to take advantage of the platform. But we have to be honest, we haven't been good enough during the tournament. This was a step too far."

Kumar Sangakkara "Losing the toss it was an important we started well with the ball. Dilshan did that, then later came together with Tharanga and reminded us of Headingley [in 2006]. The guys fought hard, especially fielding first, and they kept up the pressure. It's been a fantastic crowd, hopefully they've enjoyed the cricket. Murali has pulled up a bit stiff but I'm sure he'll be fit for the next game. We can't get too far ahead of ourselves, we just have to keep our heads down."

The Man of the Match is Tillakaratne Dilshan. "I said to Sanga I was happy to bowl with the new ball. He told me yesterday but I have done it before. It was a fantastic one-day wicket...it got better and better. We knew if we started well we could build from there. We just need to carry this forward for the next couple of matches."

So, just to remind you of the semi-final line-up. It's Sri Lanka v New Zealand on Tuesday in Colombo then the massive one, India v Pakistan in Mohali on Wednesday. It should be an epic week. Andrew Miller will soon have his bulletin ready of all today's action and you can also check out our gallery. For now, though, it's goodbye from Andrew McGlashan and Sahil Dutta. Thanks for joining us.

39.3
4
Tremlett to Tharanga, FOUR, there it is! Hundred for Tharanga and victory for Sri Lanka as he drives through the covers... emphatic way to end a brilliant run chase
39.2
0
Tremlett to Tharanga, no run, has a swing and gets a thick inside edge into the leg side but the single is turned down
39.1
0
Tremlett to Tharanga, no run, ooh, gives himself room to try and drive but mistimes it back to the bowler

Three to win, two for Tharanga's hundred. One shot anyone?

END OF OVER:
39 | 7 Runs | SL: 227/0 (3 runs required from 11 overs, RR: 5.82, RRR: 0.27)

  • Tillakaratne Dilshan108 (115b)
  • Upul Tharanga98 (119b)
  • Graeme Swann9-0-61-0
  • Chris Tremlett7-0-34-0
38.6
0
Swann to Dilshan, no run, this is given so much air and is so slow, but still Dilshan defends...a good natured finish to the match
38.5
0
Swann to Dilshan, no run, now we have an exaggerated block from Dilshan to basically a long hop

Ha...both batsmen knew that wasn't part of the plan

38.4
4
Swann to Dilshan, FOUR, steps back and cuts through the off side...lovely shot, but that won't help Tharanga