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| Monday, 20 September 2004 |
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Dropped catches prove costly Elmo Rodrigopulle reporting from England Rose Bowl, Southampton, Sunday - Poor fielding, especially the catching proved costly as Sri Lanka gifted the ICC Champions Trophy match to England in a watery Rose Bowl. The Rose Bowl has not been kind to teams playing there and it was no different in this game. On the way to Southampton the weather was good and bad. The game started in fairly sunny weather. But once it progressed, the weather turned unkind and it also signalled the end of Lanka's challenge. The Lankans arrived here full of confidence after having stuffed the South Africans. They took that confidence into the Zimbabwe game at the Oval with some extraordinarily brilliant fielding. But when it mattered most, the brilliant fielding went to pieces and it let them down. Had Nuwan Zoysa grabbed Marcus Trescothick when he was on nine and had the usually reliable Mahela Jayawardene not muffed a straight forward snick off Andrew Flintoff when he was on one, the scenario would definitely have been different. But that is the way the cookie crumbles. We need not reiterate to the Lankan fielders that catches win matches. It is no point in performing a postmortem, because it is not going to bring to life the death that the Lankans self inflicted with their atrocious catching. But a clinical dissection would prove that had the catches offered by Trescothick and Flintoff been accepted, the story would have been totally different. The bowlers to suffer and watch in amazement the fielders dropping the catches were Farveez Mahroof and Chaminda Vaas who were always great triers. England were never going to take the Lankans easy. They were well aware of the Lankans ability to come from behind and achieve the impossible. England had pride to protect. Being the hosts with everything in their favour, had they not progressed it would have been a calamity for their game. They have played in three World Cup finals and yet to bask in the glory of winning it. The ICC Champions Trophy is the next best thing to the World Cup and they will strain every nerve and sinew to hold that trophy proudly aloft. Trescothick has not had a particularly high scoring season. He skied a delivery from Mahroof that was leaving him and Zoysa whose fielding has always been in question dodged the catch. Then to the horrors of horrors Jayawardene grassed a snick from Flintoff to a well disguised out swinger from Vaas. Trescothick went on to make a half century, playing some audacious strokes after his reprieve and then Flintoff who has been having a dream run as an allrounder made the Lankans pay dearly by smashing the bowling around for a three figure score that he did not deserve. When the teams came back to the Rose Bowl to resume on the reserve day the weather shone kindly on the England batsmen and they hammered their way to a formidable 250 plus. Conditions were not favourable for batting when the Lankans took strike, and they struggled. In addition they did not make an endeavour to go for that score. True on the spot England bowling and the conditions were not favourable for batting, but the Lankans the way they went indicated that they had already conceded the game to the hosts. Sad. One might question skipper Marvan Atapattu's wisdom of sending the opposition in. But in his defence it could be said that had the catches been taken his decision would have been justified. |
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