England Thrashed by Sri Lanka in WC Semi Finals
Published on March 27, 2011 by Anil · No Comments
Butchered, battered and bruised. That was the treatment meted out by the Sri Lankan openers Tillakaratne Dilshan (108, 115b, 10×4, 2×6) and Upul Tharanga (102, 122b, 12×4, 1×6 ) to the English bowlers in the World Cup quarterfinals, which turned out to be a one-sided contest at the R Premadasa International Stadium here on Saturday. The 1996 winners and four-time semi finalists defeated England by 10 wickets to set up a semi final meeting with New Zealand. It will be played at the same venue on March 29.
For Sri Lanka, the target of 229 turned out to be a walk in the park. They had little respect for England’s bowling, which won the Ashes for them. Dilshan seemed in no mood to spare his opponents and played his normal aggressive game. While his partner Tharanga chose to remain silent before bursting on the scene. But he replicated his partner’s success on a turning track that looked suddenly easy.
Dilshan reached his second century of the World Cup in style with a boundary off Swann while Tharanga cracked off to the three-figure mark in the 40th over with a rasping cover drive off Tremlett ending the match with 10.3 overs to spare. England should kick themselves for the simple reason that they floundered the opportunity to bat well on a slow track, which would turn slower and more dangerous in the second innings.
The visitors’ horrendous start was overshadowed by some responsible batting from the middle-order, especially Jonathan Trott (86), Eoin Morgan (50) and cameos from Ravi Bopara (31) and Matt Prior (22 not out). England managed a respectable total of 229 for six.
Related News
Tags: 2011, Cricket World Cup, Dilshan, England, Lost, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Tharanga, thrashed, won
