SRI LANKA BEATS NEW ZEALAND IN THE OPENING MATCH OF THE TRI-SERIES

 

A maiden century from Thilan Samaraweera and three wickets in an over from Lasith Malinga helped Sri Lanka steamroll New Zealand by 97 runs in the triangular one-day series for the Compaq Cup in Colombo.

Samaraweera cracked a superb 104 and Angelo Mathews chipped in with a knock of 51, the two putting on 127 for the sixth wicket as Sri Lanka recovered from 69 for five at one stage to finish with a respectable 216 for seven.

Sri Lanka's new ball bowlers Nuwan Kulasekara and Thilan Thushara then chipped in with three wickets each at the start of their reply, Malinga claiming his share in a single over as the visitors slipped to 41 for six.

Malinga then returned to pick up the final wicket as New Zealand were bowled out for 119 in 36.1 overs.

Left-arm fast bowler Thushara produced the early breakthrough, sending back Jesse Ryder for a two-ball duck with the second delivery of his first over.

Kulasekara followed up with the wickets of Martin Guptill (three) and Ross Taylor (two), although he was lucky to win a leg-before decision against the latter.

Brendon McCullum blocked and pushed for singles in uncharacteristic style as he attempted to revive the innings.

But with the required run rate climbing steeply, the wicketkeeper batsman was forced into a wild shot and succumbed.

McCullum, dropped by Kumar Sangakkara two deliveries earlier, attempted a heave across the line to a full-length delivery from Malinga and missed, the ball crashing into the base of middle stump.

At the time McCullum had just 14 from 52 deliveries.

Malinga then picked up the wickets off Jacob Oram (four) and debutant Nathan McCullum - bowled first ball - in the same over to leave the result a foregone conclusion.

Grant Elliott had battled hard en route to a painstaking 41, but his resistance was ended by the left-arm spin of Sanath Jayasuriya, who also scalped Daniel Vettori (10).

Malinga returned to bowl Ian Butler - the second highest scorer with 25 - to finish with four for 28 from 6.1 overs.

Earlier, Kiwi paceman Shane Bond and Daryl Tuffey made a fine start with the new ball.

Tuffey, playing his first match on this tour, claimed the wicket of Tillakaratne Dilshan (four) in the very first over, while the returning Bond scalped Jayasuriya and Mahela Jayawardene cheaply from the other end to leave the home team reeling at 22 for three.

Dilshan attempted an aggressive start but perished in the first over, dragging Tuffey's last delivery back onto his stumps.

At the other end, Bond produced a little extra bounce and snared Jayawardene, the batsman attempting to steer to third man and instead presenting Taylor with a simple catch at slip.

Jayasuriya, struggling to retain his place in the side, was then lured into his trade-mark cut shot and was caught at third man.

Butler, bowling first change, removed Sangakkara (18) - caught at deep square leg as he miscued a clip through midwicket - while Vettori sent back Thilina Kandamby (15) as Sri Lanka slid further into trouble at 69 for five.

Samaraweera, however, took charge and in the company of Mathews resurrected the innings with a superbly-paced knock.

Samaraweera started cautiously on a pitch which had kept slow and low, but exerted authority as his innings progressed.

He reached his 50 with a single off Nathan McCullum and accelerated nicely through the batting powerplay, slamming Butler for three boundaries in one over.

Mathews kept step with Samaraweera, reaching his second one-day half-century with a single off Bond, but fell two deliveries later.

A rare misfield which yielded three helped Samaraweera amass a century, but his innings ended when he was bowled by Butler.

Bond finished top of the pile among the bowlers with figures of three for 43.

PONTING RETIRES FROM 20-20 INTERNATIONALS

Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting today announced his retirement from international Twenty20.
Ponting will continue to remain the captain of the Test and ODI sides, stepped away from the international Twenty20 format in an effort to prolong his playing career.
Addressing the media, Ponting said: "After much thought and careful consideration I have advised Cricket Australia of my decision to retire from international Twenty20 cricket."
"I have also spoken to Andrew Hilditch, Tim Nielsen and Michael Clarke and I feel this decision provides me the opportunity to prolong my Australian Test and one-day career, an opportunity I am extremely determined about."
"As I said after the fifth Test in London, I am hoping to continue playing Test cricket for as long as possible and retiring from the Twenty20 format gives me the best chance of doing this."
"I will now have set periods of rest throughout the Australian summer and while touring which I feel will be very beneficial," Ponting said.
"While I will no longer be available for Australian Twenty20 cricket, I look forward to playing with Tasmania's KFC Big Bash team where possible and to fulfilling my contract with the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League," he added.

Dhoni- world's top earning cricketer

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has topped the list of world's 10 top earning cricketers compiled by Forbes.

Raking in USD 10 million, Dhoni is at the top of the chart followed by Tendulkar at the second spot with earnings worth USD 8 million in the list of 'The World's Top-Earning Cricketers'.

While Yuvraj Singh and Dravid are at the third and fourth spot, respectively, Ganguly and Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting share the sixth place.

"Paycheck figures include club and national team salaries and commercial endorsement income over the last 12 months," Forbes said.

According to the magazine, Singh earned USD 5.5 million while Dravid and Ganguly raked in USD 5 million and USD 3.5 million, respectively. Ponting also earned USD 3.5 million.

At the fifth spot is England's Andrew Flintoff with earnings of USD 4 million followed by Australia's Brett Lee and English cricketer Kevin Pietersen -- both at eighth place and Australian Michael Clarke is ranked tenth.

While Lee and Pietersen raked in USD 3 million each, Clarke earned USD 2.5 million.

AUSTRALIA BEATS ENGLAND BY 39 RUNS IN THE 2ND ODI

 

Mitchell Johnson starred with both bat and ball as Australia beat England by 39 runs in the second one-day international at Lord's here on Sunday.
Victory, achieved with 23 balls to spare, saw world champions Australia go 2-0 up in the seven-match series.
England, chasing 250 for victory, were well-placed at 74 without loss.
But a rapid collapse saw them lose four wickets for 23 runs in 33 balls as they slumped to 97 for four.
Despite the best efforts of Paul Collingwood, last man out for 56, they were unable to retrieve the situation and were dismissed for 210.
Earlier, man-of-the-match Johnson's rapid 43 not out helped boost Australia's total to 249 for eight. He faced just 23 balls, including five fours before taking two wickets for 50 runs.
Together with Nathan Hauritz, he shared an unbroken stand of 41 after Australia were in danger of being bowled out inside their alloted 50 overs.
Callum Ferguson top-scored with 55, his second successive fifty after his man-of-the-match winning 71 not out in Australia's four-run win in Friday's series opener at the Oval.

England were in dire straits at 168 for seven in the 37th over.
They were given hope by a stand of 36 between Collingwood and Graeme Swann.
But the game was up for England when Swann was bowled by Nathan Bracken after an ugly heave across the line.
And, two balls later, 204 for eight became 204 for nine when Bracken bowled tailender Ryan Sidebottom for nought.
Brett Lee finished the match by bowling Collingwood, who faced 84 balls with three fours.
Strauss and fellow opener Ravi Bopara got the chase off to a sound start.

But all-rounder Shane Watson, the fifth bowler brought on by Michael Clarke, separated the pair when, with his fifth ball, he had Bopara lbw for 27.
Watson then made it two wickets for no runs in four balls when Matt Prior was caught behind to leave England 76 for two in the 17th over.
Strauss, his concentration perhaps broken by a fly-past by a World War II Lancaster bomber, marking the 65th anniversary of Lord's reverting back to a cricket ground from a Royal Air Force (RAF) recruiting centre, fell next.
His innings of 47, off just 53 balls with six fours, ended in tame fashion when he chipped a gentle return catch to off-spinner Hauritz.
England's decline then continued when Owais Shah was run out after a wretched mix-up with Collingwood.
Luke Wright fought back with 20 at better than a run-a-ball before he was caught behind, off Lee.

After Strauss won the toss, Ferguson's innings helped Australia recover from losing three wickets for 11 runs as they declined from 62 without loss to 73 for three, with the deceptively quick Wright striking twice.
Cameron White, who also made a fifty on Friday, and Ferguson staunched the flow of wickets with a stand of 69.
Their partnership ended when occasional medium-pacer Bopara struck first ball with White, trying to run the ball to third man, caught behind for 42.
And Australia were 155 for five when off-spinner Swann bowled Michael Hussey with a ball that turned past the left-hander's outside edge.
Ferguson's 58-ball innings, featuring five fours, ended when he was bowled hitting across the line by Anderson. That gave the Lancashire quick his first wicket in five international matches.
This series continues with Wednesday's day/night fixture at the Rose Bowl.