Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka: Quick flicks of the match

Kumara Sangakkara

Sangakkara holds play for chewing gum

Anyone who has followed Kumara Sangakkara would know there is no one else who emphasizes perfection as much as Sanga does. Whether he is in the middle of a purple patch or struggling to get bat on ball, any match of any kind would be proceeded by hours of intense practice in the nets. When he is batting too, he makes sure all his rituals are performed properly in the right order.

Recently, Sanga has added another item to his checklist – the chewing gum. The southpaw often gnaws at the gum while drawing blood from the bowlers. In today’s match after a drinks break Sri Lanka decided to take the batting powerplay after the 33rd over. However, Sanga somehow forgot his gum as he held the play to have one of the benched players bring it to him. That despite being ridiculous proved to be Sanga’s charm as he raced to his fastest century.

Dilshan’s affinity for reverse sweeps

Dilshan is well known for his innovative strokeplay behind the wicket. Dilshan who saw off the early scare, then rotated the strike during the middle overs to make sure Sri Lanka had wicket in hands to launch during the powerplays. During the powerplays, to up the ante Dilshan tried in vain many times to reverse sweep the Bangladeshi spinners.

Every time he attempted the shot, the ball either rapped him on his pads or snuck between his legs. However, the right hander refused to give up as he kept attempting the shot until he finally succeeded in the 48th over, reverse sweeping Shakib Al Hasan for four.

Malinga gets his mojo back

Sri Lanka has been sweating over Malinga’s form and he came close to his best as he found the ball moving in the air very early in his spell. In only the second ball of the match, Malinga swung the ball back into Tamim Iqbal to castle his stumps, which spurred the slinger to his vintage past. Three in swinging Yorkers would be bowled in the same over as Malinga finished with 3 wickets for 35runs in 9 overs.

Sanga’s straight drive for six

In a World Cup dominated by brutal hitting, Sangakkara unleashed a voluptuous straight drive that went all the way for six, showing how elegantly runs can be scored yet. That was incidentally the only six his hit in the Sri Lankan innings which resulted in 332 runs being scored.

In the fourth ball of the 42nd over, Sanga moved outside leg stump and lofted the full ball from Rubel Hossain straight over his head. It’s a surprise that Sanga didn’t have any power behind that shot as sheer timing alone took it over the colossal outfield of MCG.

Review system’s aversion to Sri Lanka

During one of the matches in the New Zealand vs Sri Lanka series, when Martin Guptill was caught plumb in front and wasn’t given out, Sri Lanka went up for a review. But the virtual eye technology was not available at the third umpire’s disposal and hence the decision could not be over turned.

The same fate followed Sri Lanka in this match to as ‘snicko’ despaired them when they reviewed a turned-down caught behind decision in the 8^th over. But this time around, Sri Lanka’s review was reinstated.