The Irish didn't start too badly and had negotiated the threat of Chaminda Vaas comfortably but it was Fervez Maharoof that rocked them with three wickets in one over and reduced them to 27/3 in no time. And this was the over in which the first two balls had been smacked convincingly to the boundary! Oh, the vagaries of cricket!
From then on, it was all one steady slide as Muralitharan chipped in to demolish the hapless middle order. Only some minor resistance at the end helped Ireland post 77. To Sri Lanka's credit, they brought back their top two bowlers and the results were there for everyone to see. If comparisons of teams against a common opposition were a yardstick, Sri Lanka beat Ireland more convincingly than Australia beat them. Unfortunately, Australia beat Sri Lanka just as convincingly!
While the Sri Lankan batting line-up is pretty much settled, the recent form of Upul Tharanga would be a worry for the captain. But the brief to him has to be clear: play yourself in and leave the pyrotechnics to Jayasuriya.
The Irish were beaten through the Super Eight, barring the one match against Bangladesh, and as predicted, did turn out to be the whipping boys. But their two wins in the World Cup have put them into the ICC's full ODI table for team rankings, which is a big step up. To their credit, they fielded well and have also shown that there are a couple of good players in their side who can make any team sweat on their day. How they develop and progress from here on will be the key.
The Irish definitely brought some more colour to the tournament and their supporters were rather vocal and visible throughout. Great signs for the game... let's hope the team continues to improve and gets some more matches under their belt by 2009 when their ODI status is up for renewal!
On playing his next game in Jamaica where the Lankans have not played so far in the World Cup
'We are not bothered about the conditions. We just need to go to Jamaica, have a look at it and we'll make sure we adjust to it (pitch), that's what we've done this whole World Cup,' - "Every venue offered us different conditions, Antigua offered us something different so everyone has to do that (adjust) so we are sure we can do the same in Jamaica and have a great game."
