Re: 16 April 2007 - Australia v Sri Lanka
Australia hits a 6 on the final ball…
Man what a nail in the coffin
Re: 16 April 2007 - Australia v Sri Lanka
Looks like Australia is winning another world cup
** the only thing which could have derailed the Australian express was Sri Lanka but Sri Lanka lost badly**
Remember, it is not the final yet... ;)
Re: 16 April 2007 - Australia v Sri Lanka
Another good win for Australia. Hopefully they will not be able to do it in the semi final or the final.
Could this be regarded as 'another winning' innings by Ricky Ponting?
Re: 16 April 2007 - Australia v Sri Lanka
from cricinfo:
Australia just too good for anyone. Not one team has bothered them all tournament. You're going to need a lot to beat this team, A-game, B-game, call if what you will. Dismissed Sri Lanka cheaply, knocked off the runs without breaking a sweat, and I want to see what team beats Australia.
Re: 16 April 2007 - Australia v Sri Lanka
SL was my last hope....
Re: 16 April 2007 - Australia v Sri Lanka
Mayoosi kufr hay mairay bhai 
Re: 16 April 2007 - Australia v Sri Lanka
New Zealand is the only team which can beat Aus in this world cup!
Re: 16 April 2007 - Australia v Sri Lanka
Bara e Meherbani fatwa jaari kernay say guraiz kerain… :maulana:
Re: 16 April 2007 - Australia v Sri Lanka
SL lost badly but you have to consider that there was no Malinga, Vaas, or Murli in their line up. Thats their 3 top bowlers. But, SL batting hasnt clicked for a while now and they seem to collapse too often.
Re: 16 April 2007 - Australia v Sri Lanka
Yeah in the absence of Murali, Vaas and Malinga SriLanka were always going to struggle to defend a modest total against the the Aussies but their batsmen were also guilty of also self-destruction. 226 from a healthy position of 167-3 at one stage was really poor.
Re: 16 April 2007 - Australia v Sri Lanka
Australia has now gone 26 games at the World Cup unconquered since their 10-run loss against Pakistan in 1999
Ponting 32, has now won a world-record 113 games (lost 25) as captain** and is well on track to become the first captain (and possibly the only one in one-day history) to win 200 one-day games.** The next world cup in 2011 could be his swansong
http://www.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/ODIS/INDIVIDUAL/ODI_CAPTAIN_APPEARANCES.html
some record…
Re: 16 April 2007 - Australia v Sri Lanka
Lower order needs to step up if they want to succeed.
SL's selections were a real masterstroke. Australia will have no psychological advantage going in because they have that feel that SL let them win. Brave decision which may just pay off.
Re: 16 April 2007 - Australia v Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka skipper defends choices
Captain Mahela Jayawardene denied Sri Lanka had shown a lack of respect for the World Cup after resting key bowlers for Monday’s game against Australia.
The decision to leave out Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan backfired as they were beaten by seven wickets.
Jayawardene said they could not afford the pair to “burn out” before the key matches coming up.
“When we took the decision we knew it would be a tough game but these guys have been playing a lot of cricket.”
Jayawardene said Muralitharan and Vaas had suffered various niggles and they could not afford either to be out of action with a semi-final and, hopefully, a final coming up, even though paceman Lasith Malinga was already on the sidelines because of an ankle problem.
“They have had injury problems for the last 6-12 months and we’ve been giving them breaks - we have to manage these players.”
He continued: "We have 15 guys we brought along to play in this tournament, all quality players who have been playing for us for the last 12 months.
"We never devalued the game - we just couldn’t sustain another injury like what happened to Lasith [Malinga].
“These guys are key players and going in to the business end of the tournament, if one of these guys was not fit we would look back and think why didn’t we take that decision [to give them a rest].”
Reflecting on the team’s performance against Australia, he said: "We fought really well but we made a lot of mistakes, losing five wickets for 17 runs in that middle period when we were looking to accelerate.
“If you make mistakes against Australia, they will punish you.”
Jayawardene shared a stand of 140 with Chamara Silva, but their eventual total of 226 all out was not enough to seriously test Australia’s batsmen.
“You have to try to bat through the innings, but we couldn’t do that. Around 250 would have been an ideal score but they batted really well and we didn’t bowl particularly well so it was disappointing,” he said.
“Hopefully we can get the basics right and come back strongly against Ireland.”
Re: 16 April 2007 - Australia v Sri Lanka
Ponting queries absence of Murali
Australia captain Ricky Ponting says Sri Lanka’s decision to rest key players in their World Cup Super 8 game may cost them later in the tournament.
Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas were both rested as the Aussies won by seven wickets in Grenada.
"They’ve got to take a big loss like that into a semi-final game just around the corner.
“If we play them again they have to bounce back from what we’ve done to them,” said Ponting.
“We won with eight overs to spare so that’s a pretty big loss for the next time they have to front up against us.”
Speculation has been rife that Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody was keen to hold back star off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan to prevent Australia’s batsmen having time against him in the middle.
But Ponting insists they know everything they need to know about him already and will be ready for whatever he comes up with if the teams meet in the final.
“I would have thought it was a good opportunity for him to have a crack at our batsmen,” the Aussie skipper added.
"It doesn¿t worry our batters at all. We have played him a lot, have lots of footage on him, and know pretty much the way he goes about things. “We play him as well as anybody around the world and it would have been a good opportunity for him to get stuck into us and take some wickets.”
Ponting’s view was echoed by team-mate Andrew Symonds, who helped finish Sri Lanka off with an unbeaten 63.
“When key players don’t play in key games, you can lose momentum and you can lose confidence. It’s certainly not the way we would have done it - but I guess they’re not the same team as us,” said Symonds.
He shared a stand of 106 with skipper Ponting as Australia cruised to their target of 227 with seven overs to spare.
And the Queensland all-rounder said: "We’re very happy with how we dealt with that today. There’s not a player on our team who didn’t contribute.
“The training facilities we’ve had over the last two weeks have been very good, so they boys are in very good form.”
Symonds said that Michael Hussey and Brad Hodge, who have been short of batting practice because of Australia’s top order strength, had the ability to perform if called upon to do so. “When Hussey and Hodge do get a knock, don’t be surprised to see them in good form,” he said.
Re: 16 April 2007 - Australia v Sri Lanka
This is so funny that instead of Srilankans, australians are more upset on the absense of Murli and Vaas. Whether the decision was right or wrong, it is pretty clear that they are pissed off at Lanka's game plan of not exposing Vaas and Murli and now are venting their frustraion:D
Re: 16 April 2007 - Australia v Sri Lanka
This is so funny that instead of Srilankans, australians are more upset on the absense of Murli and Vaas. Whether the decision was right or wrong, it is pretty clear that they are pissed off at Lanka's game plan of not exposing Vaas and Murli and now are venting their frustraion:D
Egjactly :D
Re: 16 April 2007 - Australia v Sri Lanka
This is so funny that instead of Srilankans, australians are more upset on the absense of Murli and Vaas. Whether the decision was right or wrong, it is pretty clear that they are pissed off at Lanka's game plan of not exposing Vaas and Murli and now are venting their frustraion:D
I was caught in-between the following Ponting statement:
"We won with eight overs to spare so that's a pretty big loss for the next time they have to front up against us."
New Zealand (NL) and South Africa are already done and dusted, as Ponting would have it.