da esoccer bet： If the weather stays like it has over the last week, chasing a score could be a considerable advantage through the rest of the tournament at the Wanderers
da apostaganha： S Rajesh at the Wanderers15-Sep-2007
Sanath Jayasuriya biffed his way to allow Sri Lanka canter home © Getty Images
If it’s Johannesburg it must be another run-fest. New Zealand spoiled itby getting only 164, but Sri Lanka’s emphatic run-chase proved once againjust how good a batting surface it is at the Wanderers. The first Twenty20hundred was scored here at the start of the tournament, the highest scorein this format was reached yesterday, while today a target of 165 was madeto look ridiculously inadequate. And this against a bowling side whichincluded Shane Bond and Daniel Vettori, two of the most parsimoniousbowlers in one-day internationals.New Zealand have the firepower to make use of the conditions here – LouVincent, Peter Fulton, Ross Taylor and Jacob Oram can all belt it a longway – but today’s honours were clearly taken by Sri Lanka’s top four, whocantered to their second win of the tournament.The opening batting is one of the strongest suits for Sri Lanka, and itwas the 82-run partnership in 7.3 overs from Jayasuriya and Upul Tharangathat set it up. The key to their domination was the manner in which bothbatsmen went after Bond, who had an entirely forgettable day, not onlyconceding bucketful of runs but also dropping a sitter from Jayasuriya.In conditions as unforgiving as this, even a marginal error in length orline – and sometimes not even that – can be a run-scoring opportunity, andboth Jayasuriya and Tharanga cashed in with aplomb. Bond either slipped itslightly wide outside off – a crime when bowling to Jayasuriya – orovercompensated by straying onto leg stump. Both lines of attack wereperfect for the Sri Lankan openers. With the trend being what it is, Vettori might be the last captain to win the toss and bat first at the Wanderers in this tournament The blast from their batsmen also put into perspective Sri Lanka’s superbperformance in the field earlier in the day. Gayan Wijekoon was the oneweak link, but the rest of the bowling machine worked perfectly. DilharaFernando put in a much-improved performance, while Lasith Malinga is adeadly weapon to have towards the end of an innings.With the trend being what it is, Vettori might be the last captain to winthe toss and bat first at the Wanderers in this tournament. Chasing atarget has clearly been an advantage here – teams batting first havesometimes not pressed the throttle all the way, perhaps unsure of whattotal to aim for when setting a target. Meanwhile, the excellent battingconditions have meant virtually any total is chaseable. Of the four gamesplayed here, three have been won by the team chasing – includingBangladesh’s upset win against West Indies – while the only one where theteam batted first and triumphed was when Sri Lanka thrashed anout-of-sorts Kenya. If the weather stays like it has over the last week,chasing a score could be a considerable advantage through the rest of thetournament here.