New Zealand wins against Sri Lanka, in big step for USA Cricket

Reporting: Shahaan Razak (UMiami), Saminda Siriwardena (St Cloud State), Imran Sadick (FIU)

The moment we have held our breaths for has now passed. The excitement in the air,it was definitely worth the wait. Although the stadium was not filled to capacity, the patrons who did attend the game gave a strong welcome to the New Zealand and Sri Lankan teams. However, the Sri Lanka supporters were definitely filled with more zeal and adrenaline than those supporting the Black Caps.

The Stadium was filled with entertainment, music, drums, and an announcer (who could’ve been more vocal) which all supported the glorious cricket atmosphere. I must say, the debut of the Pearls Cup on U.S. soil did not disappoint the fans attending, especially those surrounding the gates on the far side.

The game began with a bang! The skipper Vettori stated it correctly when expressing that it was an international game on a good venue that needed to be taken seriously. New Zealand won the toss and chose to bat. Brandon McCullum ignited the crowd with his infamous scoop shot for a 4 followed by the first 6. The high scores for New Zealand was held by Taylor with 27 followed by Vettori’s 21 not out.

The Sri Lanka side displayed superb fielding and a kind of professionalism that the youth in the U.S. can learn from. Both of the teams displayed this high standard of cricket that we can all take example from. They were teams that were together and teams that were focused. In the end, New Zealand put up 120 runs on a slow pitch that didn’t give much of anything, for the Sri Lankans to beat.

Sri Lanka opened the batting with Dilshan and Jayawardene, but the latter was caught behind off the bowling of Mills in the first over. The Sri Lanka team batted fair and just as slow due to good fielding, the pitch, and the fact that Mills took another wicket by bowling Dilshan in the 5th over. However Matthews had back to back boundaries (a wide in between), one 6 heading into the east stands where the crowd exploded! But New Zealand’s bowling and fielding struck back with back to back wickets by Styris culminated with a diving catch by Redmond. New Zealand fielded well throughout the innings and held Sri Lanka to the low score of 92 all out losing by 28 runs.

In the end, we can all look back at this and call ourselves winners to take part in an occasion as grand as this one.