Riding on a 91-run unbeaten knock by all-rounder RusselArnold and his unbeaten 103-run stand with Suresh Perera for the fifth wicket,Sri Lanka pulled off a sensational five-wicket victory over New Zealand in theCoca-Cola Cup in Dambulla today.
Set to score 237 off 50 overs, Sri Lanka, who weretottering at 27 for 4 in the 9th over, made a superb comeback through brilliantefforts of Maravan Atapattu (66), Arnold and Perera (56 not out) and romped hometo 240 for 5 with nine balls to spare.
With this third consecutive victory, Sri Lanka havestrengthened their chances of a final berth with six points to leave New Zealandand India to battle it out for the other place. New Zealand have two points fromthree matches while India have yet to win a match in the series.
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In keeping with the tradition so far in the series, NewZealand captain Craig McMillan, leading the side in the absence of StephenFleming who was ruled out due to stomach upset, promptly elected to bat onwinning the toss. But the hosts upset their calculations and registered thefirst victory for a side batting second in this tournament.
Kyle Mills gave New Zealand a dream start when hedismissed Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya and wicketkeeper RomeshKaluwitharna in the second over of the innings. Jayasuriya was a trifle unluckyin being given lbw when the ball seemed to pitchoutside the off-stump when he was on 5.
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;Kaluwitharna was caught behind by Adam Parore off abeauty from the paceman. The ball pitched on perfect length and left thebatsman after kissing his bat. Sri Lanka lost the first two wickets with justfive runs on the board.
Marvan Atapattu opened his account with a cover drivenboundary off Darryl Tuffy in the third over and looked solid as he set out forthe damage control exercise. But his partner opener Avishka Gunawardene, who toostarted his scoring with a four off Mills, wasincreasingly uncomfortable having been tied down by the New Zealand bowlers.
Gunawardene was getting frustrated and in an effort tobreak the shackles slashed Tuffy off a widedelivery in the ninth over only to see Chris Harris come up with a brilliant diving catch at point. Gunawardene could manage only fiveoff the 26 balls he faced.
New man Mahela Jayawardene went for an non-existent runand paid the price when a direct hit from Mathew Sinclair foundhim way out of the crease and he was back to pavilion without opening hisaccount.
Atapattu remained unperturbed though and played some delightful drives on the off-side. He square cut Tuffy for aboundary in the fourth over and drove a over-pitched delivery from Mills for the same result in the sixth over.Showing impeccable timing and excellent footwork, Atapattu executed some brilliant strokes to keep the
scoreboard moving.
Arnold, who came at the fall of Jayawardene, took his time to settle down and gave ablesupport to Atapattu who was looking in a very fine touch. Sri Lanka, who have a reputation for putting up a bigscore in the first 15 overs, were in an extremely difficult situation at 48 for four when the fielding restrictions werelifted.
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However, Atapattu and Arnold restrained their flashy stroke-making and concentrated on building a big partnership.Atapattu reached his 33rd half-century with a single off Chris Harris in the 27th over which also brought up thehundred of the team.
Atapattu however could not take his efforts to the logical conclusion and was run out for 66. Atapattu hit sevenboundaries in his 91-ball knock. Sri Lanka lost their fifth wicket at 137 runs. With the asking rate nearing six runs an over, the SriLankans needed to step up their scoring and Perera and Arnold did exactly what was required as they wenton the attack with some intelligent stroke-play.
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PTI
