Dilshan, Tharanga crush England to set up semis date with NZ

Rex Clementine
Colombo, Mar 26 (PTI) Openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and
Upul Tharanga hit superb centuries as Sri Lanka humiliated
England by 10 wickets in a thoroughly one-sided quarter-final
encounter of the World Cup, here on Saturday.
Chasing a target of 230, Dilshan (108 not out, 115
balls, 10x4, 2x6) and Tharanga (102 not out, 122 balls, 12x4,
1x6) played with consumate ease as they reached the target in
only 37.3 overs to set up a semi-final date with New Zealand,
next Tuesday.
The target was never going to be difficult on a
Premadasa track for a team that bats deep but one fancied
England bowlers to put up a fight. Unlike some of their
resilient performances at the group league stages, the English
bowlers couldn't recreate the magic as both Dilshan and
Tharanga never looked like getting into any kind of trouble.
The only time the duo looked troubled was after the
match got over when both were in acute pain battling cramps in
humid conditions.
Without taking any undue risks, both hit the
boundaries with minimum fuss. Their preference for the
off-side field was understandable as they repeatedly peppered
the region with some thumping drives.
The ploy of opening the bowling with Graeme Swann also
didn't work out as both Tharanga and Dilshan used their feet
to good effect whenever the offie tossed it up. If the ball
turned, they waited that extra bit to play their shot.
Tharanga made his intentions clear when he stepped out
in the very second over bowled by Swann to hit him over long
for a six. When the spinner came for his second spell, Dilshan
who was well and truly settled swept him over mid-wicket for
another six.
Ditto for second spinner James Tredwell as Lanka
reached their 50 in nine overs and subsequently the 100 in 19
overs.
Chris Tremlett looked incisive in his first couple of
overs but Strauss certainly lacked someone who would produce
telling blows to bring England back in the match. The bowlers
were happy bowling length balls which were punished with utter
disdain.
Having already set a World Cup record for an opening
stand of 282 runs against Kenya, Dilshan-Tharanga duo showed
that they are slowly turning into one of the best opening
pairs in the limited overs version as they brought up their
second double century partnership.
Dilshan completed his second century in the World Cup
and 10th in the ODIs when he rocked back to cut Swann past
point for a boundary. The milestone was achieved in 107 balls.
Tharanga who battled cramps and had to take runner
completed his ton when he hit a cover drive off Tremlett to
finish the proceedings.
Credit should be given to Dilshan as he blocked a
couple of hittable deliveries to let his partner reach his
individual milestone.
Earlier, Jonathan Trott scored a fighting 86 as
England recoverd from a slow start to post a modest 229 for
six in 50 overs.
Electing to bat, Trott held the English innings
together after they suffered two early blows.
Trott has been the man-in-form for England for quite
some time and yet again he proved his worth by sharing two
crucial stands with Ravi Bopara (31) and Eoin Morgan (50) for
the third and fourth wickets respectively.
The two partnerships -- 64 with Bopara and 91 with
Morgan -- guided England to the respectable total after they
lost both the openers -- captain Andrew Strauss (5) and Ian
Bell (25) -- with the scoreboard reading 31 for two.
Wicket-keeper Matt Prior (22 not out off 19) played a
good hand in the dying stages of the innings to take England
past the 220-mark.
Sri Lanka also helped England's cause by dropping
Morgan thrice -- once off Ajantha Mendis and twice off Mutiah
Muralitharan -- during his 55-ball stay.
The sloppy fielding negated the good work done by the
bowlers, specially the spinners, as it gave momentum to the
England innings.
England batsmen found boundaries difficult to hit in
the tricky R Premadasa pitch and could only 12 fours in their
entire innings.
Trott had to work hard for his runs and it was evident
from the fact that he hit just two boundaries in his 115-ball
knock.
England were never comfortable facing the spin attack
as their top-order struggled to adjust to the pace of the
wicket, which forced Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara to
quicly remove pacer Lasith Malinga from the attack and employ
all his slow bowlers to the work.
Part-timer Tillakratane Dilshan, who opened the attack
along with Malinga, troubled Strauss from the onset and
eventually ended his misery by bowling him out.
Angelo Mathews was hit for two boundaries by Bell in
his opening two overs but the paceman got the better of the
English batsman in his third over, caught at short mid-wicket
by Thilan Samaraweera.
Sangakkara then introduced Rangana Herath from one end
and Mendis from the other as England crawled to 46 for two in
15 overs.
Even though Trott and Bopara failed to score runs
quickly, they at least managed to stay at the crease as the
next five over yielded just 19 runs.
The spin trio stifled both Trott and Bopara but the
English duo was succesful in staying united for the next 17
overs and added vital 64 runs for the third wicket.
The boundaries were far and few and both Trott and
bopara had to toil hard for their runs, which came thourgh
ones and twos.
Muralitharan, who surprisingly did not pose much
problem early on, broke the stand by trapping Bopara (31).
Then came Morgan who enjoyed all his luck to score his
11th ODI half-century. He was dropped thrice -- by Thilan
Samraweera off Mendis when he was on 16, by Mathews on 33 and
by Herath on 34 off Muralitharan's over.
In between Morgan survived a leg before appeal off
Malinga as Simon Taufel decided in favour of the batsman.
Morgan finally ran out of luck when he was caught by
Mathews off Malinga during the final power-play but by then he
had done a world of good for his side by raising 91 runs for
the fourth wicket with Trott.
Graeme Swann (0) was scalped by Mendis in the very
next ball and Trott was out while attempting a big shot off
Muralitharan in the penultimate over of the innings.