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In the world cup 2007, another potential sensational match went straight down the drain. The showdown between Sri Lanka and New Zealand proved to be eyewash. Sluggish Kiwis didn’t put up any sort of impressive fight against former world champs. In the reply of 219, Sri Lanka cruised to 222 runs in just 45.1 overs while their 6 wickets were still remaining. It was a perfect example of how Sri Lanka executes their intricate yet simplistic ploy to harass the opposition. From the word ‘go’ by Asad Rauf to the word ‘good bye’ by commentator.

Jayasuriya’s amazingly beautiful 64, Sangakkara’s blissfully pretty 69, Chaminda Vass’s early dismissals and wizadary by Muralitharan were some of the striking highlights of the day. When the good old Wasim Akram of Sri Lanka, Vaas showed his still young mettle by picking up Kiwi skipper Fleming and Ross Taylor for eggs, there was little Kiwi’s could do, once they were sliding down the hill. Ross Taylor hoped against hope, when just after returning from the hamstring injury, he tried to fill in the gap of Lou Vincent. The sly delivery by Vass and a memorable catch by Kumara Sangakkara sent him back begging. Only Scott Styris showed some resilience and stood their for a while, though he too lived precariously and not-so-handsomely.

Then Peter Fulton and Scott Styris worked hard to save their team from total perish and scratchily they climbed the wall while Vaas, Maharoof, Fernando and Murali continued to bamboozle them to no end. Then soon enough Fulton fell to the joint effort by Chaminda and Chamara. Murali got the wits out of Craig McMillan, while McMillan in trying to sweep Murali, swept himself out.

The Mr. Dependable Jacob Oram, again strove to facilitate the rapidly deteriorating New Zealandish batting and itched scorers for 34 runs, couldn’t do more for his team. Soon after this debacle, another blow sent Kiwis down ultimately when Brendon McCullum went out cheaply. His dismissal revealed a cheap 155 runs for 7, and the Kiwis knew they were doomed. The silver lining for the Kiwis is that they found yet another fighter in the form of Scott Styris, who contributed more than 50% runs to the total of his team. His 111 from 157 balls with numerous stunning fours was a balm to the hurt Kiwi fans.

When Lanka batted, pray in vain was all that the Kiwis could do. Sanath Jayasuriya’s scintillating 64 set the pace and mood for the ultimate victory for them. His centurion partnership with Kumara wrote the result on the wall in Grenada with alacrity. Mahela Jayawardene would probably have felt deprived by not getting enough chunk of the cake as he got out on a soft note by just making light 15 runs. But his words which he uttered after the match should be a red signal to all the competitors. He said,” We are not a one-man team”.