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Murali run out under `bizarre` circumstances
Monday, 11 December 2006 - 3:39 AM SL Time
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Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene blamed for the lack of spirit in the Kiwi camp following Muttiah Muralitharan`s controversial dismissal in Sri Lanka`s second innings here at the Jade Stadium in Christchurch on Saturday.
With Sri Lanka`s last pair of Kumar Sangakkara and Mural fighting hard to gain a substantial lead, the latter was run out when he stepped out of the crease to congratulate a celebrating Sangakkara who had just completed a brilliant ton.
After the top order collapsed yet again, Sangakkara with the tail-enders was putting up a brave effort to give the team a considerable second innings total. He brought up his 11th Test hundred with a single and having completed the first run Murali stepped out to wish his partner and at that point `keeper Brendon McCullum removed the bails with Murali left stranded in utter disbelief. The Kiwis argued that the ball was still alive when he stepped out.
`I am disappointed and the whole team is disappointed. Legally that`s out, but these days people talk about the Spirit of Cricket and sportsmanship. It was obvious that Murali wasn`t going to sneak another run and he was going to congratulate Kumar,` a disappointed Captain said.
`I remember Nathan (Astle) doing the same thing during the Champions Trophy. After completing a run he stepped out and Sanath threw the ball back to Kumar (Sangakkara), who pointed out to Nathan that he shouldn`t be doing it. That`s the way we play the game. That incident happened not too long ago and Kumar was disappointed.`
Fleming defends team
Incidentally the New Zealand team won the ICC Spirit of Cricket award this year at the annual awards ceremony in Mumbai. Captain Stephen Fleming, however, defended his team`s action.
`I am comfortable with it although it has created some talk. It would`ve been a real shame if that had happened when Kumar was on 99. It was a sensational knock. One of the best I have seen. It`s got nothing to do with us and it was a mistake on the part of Murali,` he said.
Moving away from the controversy, Jayawardene said that he was disappointed with the defeat and added if the batsmen had been able to get something close to 250, they could`ve put the opposition under pressure.
`It was a disappointing effort by our top order on both instances. Kumar showed great character. He held the innings together and played with a plan. When we didn`t have that many runs on the board to defend, we played according to a plan and that paid off as we managed to get five of their top order wickets,` he said.
He also defended the decision to bat first after winning the toss.
`Lot of Sri Lankan sides in the past didn`t want to bat when they see a bit of grass on the wicket. But this side is different. We try to play positively. On this instance we wanted Murali to bowl last on that wicket. He`s our number one match winner and we wanted to give him the best possible atmosphere.`
Jayawardene also backed Chamara Silva, who collected a pair in the Test. `He`s a tough character. Not the ideal start for a guy making his Test debut, but I am sure he`ll come out of it. He`s been part of the side before and he knows what it takes time to come out of it. He batted really well in the warm up game in Dunedin and we want to back him.`
Fleming, meanwhile, praised Sri Lanka`s bowling attack that did well to put his side under pressure. `They are always going to be tough especially when they have one of the best bowlers. Their bowling is one of the best in the world and they are an underrated side. Vaas keeps on asking questions and then there`s Lasith Malinga, who still causes problems to most of our batsmen with his nusual action.`
The Kiwi captain also called Sangakkara one of the best batsmen in the world.
`He`s a quality player and has got a sound technique. I rate him as one of the best in the world. He shows no fears while batting and is a very dangerous customer,` Fleming added.
Scoreboard
Sri Lanka 1st Innings 154
New Zealand 1st Innings 206
Sri Lanka 2nd Innings
(Overnight: 125 for eight)
Upul Tharanga c Fleming b Bond 24
Sanath Jayasuriya run out 10
Kumar Sangakkara not out 100
Mahela J`dene c Fleming b Franklin 0
Chamara Kapugedera c Oram b Bond 1
Chamara Silva c Vettori b Bond 0
Prasanna Jayawardene run out 11
Chaminda Vaas c McCullum b Oram 0
Farveez Maharoof c McCullum b Bond 7
Lasith Malinga c McCullum b Franklin 0
Muttiah Muralitharan run out 8
Extras (5lb, 4nb) 9
TOTAL (all out) 170
Batting time: 237 minutes. Overs: 53.1.
Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-44, 3-45, 4-48, 5-46, 6-74, 7-80, 8-99, 9-143, 10-170.
Bowling: Shane Bond 19.1-5-63-4 (3nb), Chris Martin 11-2-38-0,
James Franklin 13-1-34-2 (1nb), Jacob Oram 7-1-19-1, Daniel Vettori 2-0-10-0, Nathan Astle 1-0-1-0
New Zealand 2nd Innings
Craig Cumming c P J`dene b Vaas 43
Jamie How lbw b Muralitharan 11
M. Sinclair c Sangakkara b M`tharan 4
Stephen Fleming lbw b Vaas 0
Nathan Astle lbw Muralitharan 24
Jacob Oram not out 12
Brendon McCullum not out 14
Extras (1b, 1lb, 5w, 4nb) 11
Total (for five wickets) 119
Batting time: 133 minutes. Overs: 33.
Fall of wickets: 1-58, 2-66, 3-66, 4-68, 5-103.
Did not bat: Daniel Vettori, James Franklin, Shane Bond, Chris Martin.
Bowling: Chaminda Vaas 13-3-38-2 (3nb), Lasith Malinga 4-1-35-0 (5w), Muttiah Muralitharan 14-5-34-3, Farveez Maharoof 2-0-10-0 (1nb).
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GamaRaala
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12 Dec 2006 03:01:48 GMT Report for Abuse
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'I remember Nathan (Astle) doing the same thing during the Champions Trophy. After completing a run he stepped out and Sanath threw the ball back to Kumar (Sangakkara), who pointed out to Nathan that he shouldn't be doing it. That's the way we play the game. That incident happened not too long ago and Kumar was disappointed.' |
vimukthi
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12 Dec 2006 03:10:03 GMT Report for Abuse
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| What can we expect from a bunch of Kiwi birds! I was just begining to like them too! They played hard but they crossed that line between playing hard and playing dirty. They showed thier class. |
GamaRaala
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12 Dec 2006 03:18:26 GMT Report for Abuse
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The argument from the NZ camp is that Murali was 'out' according to the rules of cricket. This argument serves no purpose in the controversy surrounding the runout since no one argues it was not the case.
When spinners bowl long sessions in Test Cricket matches, batsmen often play defensive strokes and the ball sometimes drops very close to the batsmen. Some batsmen pick up the ball and pass it back to fielders.
What the NZ camp is saying is, it is perfectly allright to appeal on this occasions to get the batsmen out for 'Handling the ball'.
Edited By - GamaRaala - 12 Dec 2006 03:25:37 GMT |
Kulakottan
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12 Dec 2006 03:35:30 GMT Report for Abuse
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The Gentleman's game is commercialized and Oz's and Kiwi's are the worst of the lot when it comes to losing.
Its a damn shame for them to do that particularly when they were in command. That shows that they were really concerned about the going!
Don't worry boys. Keep going. Show your metal in the coming days!
Whether you win or lose, we are behind you...
Are we worried???
No!!NO! |
GamaRaala
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12 Dec 2006 03:49:30 GMT Report for Abuse
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This video clip has Murali's runout
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3ObXmALrRk |
Kulakottan
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12 Dec 2006 03:57:49 GMT Report for Abuse
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Thanks Gamarala.
Having seen the video clip, I feel that it was very silly of Murali to have done that.
What a pity???
Kula |
GamaRaala
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12 Dec 2006 04:02:40 GMT Report for Abuse
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Kula,
Sangakkara had pointed out that he did not get Astle runout in similar circumstances. So, we can't say Murali was silly; he had all the reasons to expect that no would bother to have him runout in that fashion. |
Kulakottan
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12 Dec 2006 04:08:08 GMT Report for Abuse
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Gamarala,
I agree that in the spirit of the game, the Kiwi's should have acted more gentlemantly.
However, if you see the way Murali has turned around immediately after the run, they could argue that he was almost like taking a run. Even when you want to talk to your partner, normally you would signal to the bowler or the wicket-keeper. Having played more than 100 Tests, Murali could have been a little bit more mature!
But that was Murali.
Lets look forward to the next test.
Kula
Edited By - Kulakottan - 12 Dec 2006 04:13:41 GMT |
kiwikanga
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12 Dec 2006 05:17:37 GMT Report for Abuse
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Gone are the days when cricket was the 'Gentleman's Game'and played in that spirit. Today in any sport it's money money and money, that's why the rules in sports are enforced strictly and in cricket too the rules of the game take precedence over anything else to see that the game is played that way.
Murali obviously forgot that cricket was not a gentleman's game any more and in acccordance to the rules of cricket Murali as the batsman was off the crease and he was stumped out. Perfectly in accordance with the rules of cricket!!
Legally correct, Morally questionable. Committing adultary is not a legal offence but morally looked down and considered wrong.
Edited By - kiwikanga - 12 Dec 2006 05:39:43 GMT |
vimukthi
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12 Dec 2006 06:26:07 GMT Report for Abuse
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The Kiwis used thier condtions to their best advantage as they should. They knew the pitch was going to be bad for batting and they really focused on their fielding and bowling departments. Their fielding was quite electric at times. Mahela said he wanted to be positive and bat on winning the toss but this was a bit of over confidence by the young star. This is Christchurch not the SSC. The SL batsmen were too positive and did not play according to the conditions. Their idea is to go out their and hammer the bowling. It is nice to see our boys confident in their abilities but they simply should not have batted first in the 1st innings and Mahela still doesnt understand that which means Moody probably doesnt either. He might have been fooled by the pitch in the first class match with Otago where almost every SL batsmen scored over fifty.
Was this a caluclated move by the NZ cricket authorites? Offer one practice match with conditions starkly different from the Test pitch is either very poor planning or very good or shall we say cutthroat planning by the NZ cricket authorites. But that is past history now. The second test beckons and we can hope for a repeat of the recent tour of England where SL came back from a fair thumping in the first Test to draw the second and win the third and then went on to sweep the 5 ODI's. Although in NZ, SL have one more Test and I beleive 3 ODI's and a 20/20 match. |
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