English Dreams Fall Flat

The roller-coaster ride that was England’s World Cup bid finally came to a juddering halt on Saturday; the team dubbed the tournament’s ‘Great Entertainers’ were humbled by a ruthlessly clinical Sri Lankan side in Colombo. For the Barmy Army it was anything but entertaining. That England had made it to the quarter finals at all, having suffered shock defeats to both Ireland and Bangladesh, was a minor miracle in itself. It was only through a combination of desperate determination, and the remnants of the team spirit that had served them so well during the Ashes campaign, that they managed to scrape through the group stages. It seemed that against Sri Lanka these qualities finally ran out.

A 91-run partnership between the ever-dependable Jonathan Trott and Eoin Morgan, aided in no small part by three dropped catches from the Sri Lankan fielders, took England to a total of 229-6. Whereas in previous games they have occasionally been guilty of not seeing out the full 50 overs, this time it was a failure to accelerate the scoring at any point during the innings, despite having wickets in hand, which ultimately cost them. Emblematic of this was the meagre 23 runs that they managed during the final batting power play; two wickets also fell during this period, including Graeme Swann, perplexingly coming in at number six, for a duck. The power plays have been a major weakness for England all tournament, so it was perhaps not surprising that they again proved to be a stumbling block; a total of 250 or 260 should have been achievable given the start.

Nevertheless England would have felt that, if they bowled and fielded with discipline, built pressure and managed to take early wickets, their World Cup dream could still be alive. It was not to be. Sri Lankan openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upal Thranga both produced composed and utterly dominant innings to which the England bowling attack simply had no answer. Dilshan finished on 108 not out from 115 balls, and Tharanga on 102 not out from 122, as the co-hosts cruised to a 10-wicket victory and reached their third successive World Cup semi-final. For England the emotions are likely to be mixed; the players will of course be hugely disappointed to have been knocked out, but for many it will also spell the end of an arduous five month-long tour during which some have spent just four days at home. Who knows what would have happened had key players Kevin Pietersen and Stuart Broad not been injured earlier in the tournament, but even before their departures the team as a whole had looked jaded. The issue of future scheduling will certainly be looked at closely, whilst there is speculation that captain Andrew Strauss may call time on his 50-over career.

Take nothing away from Sri Lanka, however, who will now meet New Zealand in Colombo on Tuesday. The Black Caps come off the back of a shock victory over South Africa, who are left once again to contend with the tag of chokers. An 83 from Jesse Ryder carried New Zealand to a competent 221, but at 108-2 South Africa seemed to have taken firm control of the match. However, as was the case in the Proteas’ clash with England earlier in the tournament, a flurry of wickets precipitated a total collapse. An eventual 49-run defeat will cast further doubt over South Africa’s ability to cope when the going gets tough, and Graeme Smith cast a dejected figure indeed following his final game as one day captain. New Zealand, on the other hand, have surpassed expectations. They will again go into the semi final as underdogs but, as a team who are worth more than the sum of their parts, not without belief.

The second semi-final will see Pakistan face arch-rivals India in a hugely anticipated contest. The hosts will fancy their chances, having ended Australia’s incredible 34-match World Cup winning streak in the quarters. Despite Ricky Ponting finally finding some form with the bat in an innings of 104, India chased down the total of 260 for the loss of 5 wickets with just over two overs to spare. Yet another Sachin Tendulkar fifty set them on their way, before Yuvraj Singh continued his excellent run with 57 not out. Suresh Raina also blasted an unbeaten 34 off 28 balls. India will be favourites to beat Pakistan and progress to the final in Mumbai on 2 April, but ahead of such a crunch game nothing can be taken for granted. There will be no margin for error, particularly with the expectations of millions of home supporters on their shoulders. They don’t come much bigger than this.