Sri Lanka’s under performing middle order burst back to life at thePremadasa International Stadium today, as the home side completed afive-wicket victory against New Zealand in the fourth match of theCoca Cola Cup

Charlie Austin25-Jul-2001Sri Lanka’s under performing middle order burst back to life at thePremadasa International Stadium today, as the home side completed afive-wicket victory against New Zealand in the fourth match of theCoca Cola Cup.New Zealand had dominated an overcast day until Marvan Atapattu andRussel Arnold rescued the Sri Lankan innings with a 110-runpartnership for the fifth wicket. After Atapattu was run out, SureshPerera joined man of the match Arnold and the pair took their side tovictory in an unbeaten 103-run stand from just 98 balls.When New Zealand scored 236, having won the toss and batted, historysuggested that Sri Lanka would lose the game; firstly, because theKiwi total was the highest of the tournament thus far and, secondly,because no side had previously won batting second.Sri Lanka’s chances looked even slimmer when the New Zealand openingbowlers impressed for the second game in a row with a metronomic newball burst, which reduced Sri Lanka to 27 for four in just the ninthover of the innings.Captain Sanath Jayasuriya was trapped leg before wicket as he wanderedinto an inswinger from Kyle Mills; Romesh Kaluwitharana was turnedinside out by an outswinger in the same; Avishka Gunawardeneslashed straight to the Velcro like hands of Chris Harris; and MahelaJayawardene was run out without scoring.Atappatu and Arnold, both short of runs so far in the tournament, setabout repairing the early damage with a string of positive strokes,especially Atapattu, who looked far from the stodgy anchor that he issupposed to be.In fact, the pitch, which was also used on Sunday, never displayed thehorrors that we saw in the second game between India and New Zealandand the Sri Lankan batsmen were able to hit 22 boundaries in theirinnings.Atapattu’s flowing innings came to an abrupt end when he chanced hisarm once too often and, returning for a second run, was run outdespite a desperate dive. He had scored 66 and Sri Lanka were 137 forfive with 16.1 overs remaining.The body language of the Kiwi’s perked up and they rightly sensed thatthe breakthrough could pave the way to victory. Such wistful hopesthough were dashed, as Perera followed Sunday’s man of the match awardwith the finest innings of his career and probably the first of manyhalf centuries in international cricket.Arnold played cleverly and maturely for his unbeaten 91 from 116balls, but Perera unveiled some scorching strokes, just when the runrate was creeping above seven an over.Suffering from a bruised hip, which necessitated the confusion of arunner (amusingly Jayawardene, who had been run out second ball), andwith 40 runs needed from the final five overs he went into overdrive,carving the bowlers over cover and straight down the ground.Craig McMillan, acting captain in place of Stephen Fleming, who spentmost the day clutching his stomach in the team hotel, was particularlyharshly dealt with and conceded 35 runs from his 3.3 overs. UltimatelySri Lanka cantered to victory with nine balls to spare.Earlier in the day the Clear Black Caps had attacked the seamers inthe first 15 overs and made full use of the fielding restrictions.Bouncing along at nearly six runs per over, the first wicket fell withthe score on 70.Nathan Astle followed his 117 last week with another robust 54 today,though he will be kicking himself for being bowled by Arnold’s firstdelivery. In fact, Arnold proved to be one of the most economical ofthe Sri Lankan bowlers, conceding 22 runs from his six overs andtaking two wickets.McMillan (38) impressed against the spinners, shuffling outside theline against Muralitharan, though the off spinner had the final saywhen he bowled him, Lou Vincent (30) batted solidly, and Adam Parorefinished the innings in style with 37 from just 25 balls.