ICC World Cup 2015, Sri Lanka vs New Zealand: Quick Flicks of the match

New Zealand registered a comprehensive 98-run victory over Sri Lanka in the opening match of the World Cup

The million dollar hand

The Sri Lankan fielders had dropped two one-handed catches off Kane Williamson, but Sunjay Ganda gave the Lankans a demonstration on how to take one-handed catches with minimum fuss by grabbing a Williamson six over long-off, thereby standing a chance to grab 1 million dollars.

Tui’s Catch-a-Million campaign requests the spectators to purchase their t-shirts, and if the possessor manages to take a one-handed catch, he could end up being a millionaire at the end of the World Cup.

Tillakaratne Dilshan’s struggles

Dilshan suffered a twist in his ankle before the beginning of the match and that was laid bare in his efforts at the backward point region. He was slow in the field and not at his best with the ball. With the bat, the case became even more unpleasant as he rarely found the middle of his bat, struggling his way to 24 off 41 balls.

Brendon McCullum’s first shot

Living up to the huge expectations around the New Zealand captain, Brendon McCullum started his innings with a hack through the covers for four off the bowling of Nuwan Kulasekara, and New Zealand never looked back from then on as they kept pummeling Sri Lanka every time they tried to get back into the game.

Trent Boult avenges Kumar Sangakkara

The growing rivalry between Kumar Sangakkara and Trent Boult was resuscitated again as Boult bowled a peach of a yorker to trap the ace Sri Lankan batsman, who had just got ahead of Ricky Ponting in the list of highest ODI run-scorers, leg-before-wicket.

Sanga, in an attempt to up the rate of scoring, charged down the track, but Boult’s yorker brushed the outside edge of Sanga’s pad and missed the off-stump by a whisker before reaching the wicketkeeper. Sanga tried his luck with a review, but technology upheld the umpire’s call.

Dimuth Karunaratne’s blinder to dismiss Williamson

Williamson survived two tough catching chances, but his stay at the crease was brought to an end by another half-chance materializing at long on.

The Kiwi batsman, in order to increase the rate of scoring, slog swept Jeevan Mendis powerfully and the ball was moving fast and away from the long-on fielder but Dimuth Karunaratne, who was commissioned there, ran to his right and dived parallel to the ground before clinging to the leather.

Lasith Malinga’s no-ball

Lasith Malinga’s comeback from injury was not as successful as expected, but Malinga finally found his radar right at the death when he clean bowled Luke Ronchi with his characteristic toe crusher. The zing bails gleamed as the Slinger roared. But the umpire stalled the celebrations and called for a review. The footage showed that Malinga had overstepped by a millimeter, and Malinga will have to wait till the Scotland match to get his first wicket after his injury lay-off.

Daniel Vettori’s strike when it mattered

Daniel Vettori was wicketless during the ODI series against Sri Lanka as veteran Mahela Jayawardene cashed in on him, but Vettori finally won the battle as he spun the ball just away from Mahela’s bat to catch the edge which was safely pouched by the wicketkeeper. Mahela was out for a duck as Vettori tilted the balance of the match completely in favour of New Zealand.