Colombo, March 1: After West Indies inflicted a crushing 215-run defeat on minnows Netherlands yesterday, it was Sri Lanka’s turn to hammer the less fancied Kenya side by nine wickets in a Group A 2011 ICC World Cup game today. Lasith Malinga, who returned to the Lankan side after battling fitness issues, helped set up the impressive win for the hosts taking a six-wicket haul which included a hat-trick.
Kenya showed some promise in the initial stages. After winning the toss and opting to bat first, the Obuya brothers, Collins and David, put on a 94-run partnership for the third wicket that saw the side get past the 100-run mark for the loss of just two wickets. But when Muttiah Muralitharan got rid of David (51) with the score at 127 (Collins fell earlier to Malinga at an individual score of 52), things went bad for Kenya.
On the last ball of the 42nd over, Malinga trapped Tanmay Mishra (0) lbw. One over later the pacer bowled Peter Ongondo (0) and Shem Ngoche (0) off consecutive deliveries to notch up his second hat-trick at World Cup competition. But Malinga was not done yet. Two deliveries later he knocked over Elijah Otieno (0) to take four wickets in the space of five deliveries and bring an end to the Kenya innings at the score of 142. Malinga finished with figures of six for 38 in 7.4 overs.
Malinga had recorded his first hat-trick when he took four wickets off four consecutive deliveries against South Africa at the 2007 ICC World Cup in the West Indies.
Sri Lanka didn’t break into too much of a sweat chasing the modest target. Upul Tharanga smashed an unbeaten 59-ball knock of 67 runs and was involved in an opening stand of 72 runs with Tillakaratne Dilshan (44 off 30 balls) to guide Sri Lanka to a nine-wicket victory in just 18.4 overs.
After playing three matches each, Sri Lanka find themselves at the top of the Group A points table while Kenya languish at the bottom.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 146/1 in 18.4 overs (Upul Taranga 67*, Tillakaratne Dilshan 44) beat Kenya 142 all out in 43.4 overs (Collins Obuya 52, David Obuya 51, Lasith Malinga 6/38) by nine wickets
Man-of-the-Match: Lasith Malinga for his figures of six for 38 that dismantled the Kenya batting line-up
