Taylor questions use of technology

Nathan McCullum gave Mahela Jayawardene some lip for not taking his word that he held the catch cleanly © Getty Images Enlarge

, New Zealand's stand-in captain, has said that if technology cannot be conclusive it should just not be used. Taylor's remarks came in the wake of the controversial return catch of during the Sri Lanka innings, which was pouched spectacularly by who to hold the catch inches above the ground. But the third umpire ruled the decision against New Zealand.

Jayawardene went for a premeditated push towards the leg side, but was surprised by a slower delivery from McCullum which arrived late. Having rushed into the shot, Jayawardene could only watch the ball loop towards the unmanned space at silly mid-on. But McCullum leaped from the spot where he had finished his follow-through as if he was standing on a diving board. Amazingly he managed to get the tips of the fingers of his outstretched right hand under the ball.

Viewed from the press box, which is behind the bowler's arm, the first reaction was that the catch was taken on the first bounce. But numerous close replays indicated McCullum had actually held one of the catches of the tournament. His reaction was nothing short of ecstatic: he picked himself up and stamped the ground with one foot and pirouetted delightedly. But Jayawardene had his doubts and asked Asad Rauf, one of the on-field umpires, to refer the decision to the TV umpire. Moments later, third umpire Amiesh Saheba gave Jayawardene the benefit of the doubt, much to the chagrin of McCullum. Along with his captain Ross Taylor, both men argued with the on-field umpire Rauf briefly before leaving with their heads shaking. Simon Doull, the former New Zealand fast bowler, was livid in the commentary box and was adamant about the authenticity of the catch.

It was a critical moment in the match when Sri Lanka were struggling at 87 for 2 after 23.1 overs with Jayawardene on 26. "I haven't seen the catch, I have seen it only live. I thought it was carried, but the third umpire obviously had other things," Taylor said after the match. "When you generally think that you have taken the catch, it's your natural instinct. It is disappointing."

Asked if he would prefer the batsman taking a fielder's words in such a situation, Taylor said he would not rule that out. "It depends upon the person. You look at Jacques Kallis; he asks the fielders if they caught it cleanly and he trusts the words of the fielders. You put it up to the batsman to make the decision and at the end of the day you just hope the technology is right and if the technology is not right, well then don't use it."

, Sri Lanka's captain and Jayawardene's batting partner at the time of the incident, differed. According to Sangakkara, his team-mate had the right to ask for a referral. "I was completely blocked from behind. Mahela was very honest and he said he was not sure he caught it cleanly," Sangakkara said. "Mahela is someone who walks when he nicks it and if he saw Nathan had taken a clean catch he wouldn't have come around. He wasn't very sure and the umpires weren't sure because they were unsighted, so they checked with the technology and they went in favour of Mahela."

Sangakkara pointed out that during the New Zealand innings, Brendon McCullum had also waited for the third umpire's ruling on a low catch held at slip by Jayawardene, though it is not certain whether that was simply done in retaliation. "That's the way the game is played," he said. "We had Brendon McCullum stand his ground when Mahela took that catch and they went upstairs and it was proved that it was a clean catch. So it can go either way."

Dilshan, Tharanga take Sri Lanka into quarterfinals

Tillakaratne Dilshan scored a century and then picked up four wickets as well © AFP Enlarge

When Elton Chigumbura chose to bowl in Pallekele, to avoid his spinners having to struggle with a dew-soaked ball, little did he think his team would fail to take a wicket for 44.3 overs. But Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga batted forever, notching up the first double-century opening partnership in World Cup history, and their hundreds set up Sri Lanka's victory, officially securing their place in the quarter-finals.

The result was a foregone conclusion once Sri Lanka scored 327 but there was a flutter of hope in the Zimbabwe camp when Brendan Taylor was at the forefront of the pursuit. He combined orthodoxy and innovation during an aggressive half-century, taking advantage of a wayward Sri Lankan pace attack. The hosts gathered themselves, though, and struck twice at the other end after a century opening stand. Taylor eventually departed for 80 in the 25th over, and with him ended Zimbabwe's improbable chances.

The struggle of Zimbabwe's batsmen was in contrast to the ease with which Dilshan and Tharanga had entertained a packed house. They started at top speed, taking 84 of the first 11 overs by playing a shot a minute, and then shifted to a lower gear, bleeding Zimbabwe steadily and so easily through the middle overs. There were regular bursts of acceleration later in the innings and a concerted push during the final ten overs. At no stage were they bothered and rarely has a bowling performance looked so toothless - Chris Mpofu's shout after striking Tharanga's pad with the first ball of the game was the only appeal against the openers. Tired shots, rather than incisive bowling, brought about the dismissal of Tharanga and then Dilshan, and more middle-order wickets fell as batsmen came, swung and pushed the total beyond 300.

Smart Stats The 282-run opening partnership between Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga is the highest opening stand in World Cups going past the 194-run stand between Saeed Anwar and Wajahatullah Wasti in the 1999 semi-final. Tharanga has been involved in five 200-plus stands in ODIs. The record opening stand is also the second-highest stand for the opening wicket in ODIs only behind the 286 stand between Sanath Jayasuriya and Tharanga against England. It is also the fourth-highest partnership for any wicket in ODIs and the second highest in World Cups. Sri Lanka's 327 is their third-highest total in a World Cup game and their tenth best in ODIs. It is also their highest total against Zimbabwe in ODIs. The 116-run stand between Brendan Taylor and Regis Chakabva is the highest opening stand for Zimbabwe against Sri Lanka in ODIs and their fifth-highest for any wicket in World Cups. Dilshan became only the second player after Feiko Kloppenburg of Netherlands to score a century and take four wickets in a World Cup game. Overall, in ODIs, Dilshan is the 11th player to achieve the feat. It is also Dilshan's first century in World Cups. The 139-run margin is Sri Lanka's fifth-largest victory margin in World Cups and the largest against Zimbabwe in World Cup games. The 398 runs aggregated by both opening pairs is the highest in an ODI surpassing the 368 runs aggregated in the match between Sri Lanka and England in 2006. Dilshan's figures of 4 for 4 is the best bowling by a Sri Lankan spinner in World Cups and the tenth-best overall for a spinner in World Cup games. This was the first time in World Cups and the 22nd time overall in ODIs that both openers scored centuries in an innings.

Tharanga threaded the fourth ball through point with a square drive and Sri Lanka were away. For the first time in the tournament Chigumbura did not use Ray Price with the brand new ball and gave the second over to Tinashe Panyangara. It was a costly decision as Dilshan ran amok, driving the full balls, and cutting and pulling the short ones to take 18 runs off the over.

There was no let-up in Sri Lanka's pace during the mandatory Powerplay, off which they scored 77. Dilshan and Tharanga slashed through point, pulled through square and then drove when the length was too full, punishing everyone who bowled at them. When Price was brought on in the fifth over, Dilshan skipped down and drove him inside out through cover.

Not until the 12th and 13th over was there spin from both ends and then Price bowled the innings' first maiden. The spin trio of Price, Prosper Utseya and Graeme Cremer began to exercise more control over the run-rate, which dipped below six for the first time in the 19th, but they failed to take a wicket. Tharanga and Dilshan seamlessly shifted to a lower gear and focused on accumulation.

Zimbabwe's spinners had conceded only 76 runs off 17 overs when Chigumbura gave pace another run by bringing himself on. Dilshan slapped a wide offering through cover to move to 99 and then reached his century off 95 balls, his first in World Cups. Panyangara returned and Tharanga immediately lofted over mid-off and pulled past fine leg. Sri Lanka took 30 off overs 31-33.

Tharanga and Dilshan broke Saeed Anwar and Wajahatullah Wasti's World Cup record of 194 for the first wicket and then became the first openers to score hundreds in the same World Cup innings. They reached 200 in 33.4 overs. During the batting Powerplay, taken in the 41st over, Tharanga's inside-out play through cover was exquisite. With the highest opening partnership in ODIs - 286 between Sanath Jayasuriya and Tharanga at Headingley 2006 - within striking distance, Tharanga holed out to deep cover, bringing Zimbabwe some relief. Dilshan followed in the next over, leaving the finishing touches to his well-rested team-mates.

As impressive as Sri Lanka's display was, Taylor played some of the best shots of the game. Using Malinga's pace, Taylor flicked a low full toss to the backward square-leg boundary, pushed a wide one through covers and chipped a short one over Kumar Sangakkara's head. There was only touch and timing in those shots, no power. Taylor got to his fifty off 39 balls and carried on batting aggressively.

Muttiah Muralitharan came on only in the 16th over, after the bowling Powerplay was completed, and in the 20th he spun a doosra on to Regis Chakabva's off stump, ending the opening stand on 116. Tatenda Taibu was bent on reverse-sweeping Murali whenever he could, and got away with it. He didn't get away with edging Angelo Mathew though, and Sangakkara dived to his right to take the catch inches off the ground.

Those two wickets set back Zimbabwe's chase considerably, and Taylor's dismissal was the definitive blow. On 80, he chipped a slower ball from Angelo Mathews straight to midwicket and the contest was over. Dilshan returned to torment Zimbabwe, picking up four batsmen - his finishing touches on a terrific game. And Murali, playing his final ODI in front of his home crowd, took the final wicket.

Lorgat defends World Cup stadium preparations

World Cup preparations at several stadiums are still running behind schedule, but the ICC chief executive, Haroon Lorgat, remains confident there will be no Commonwealth Games-style last-minute dash to complete the work. The opening World Cup game is five weeks away, but several venues, including Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, which will host the final, are not yet ready.

Last month, an ICC inspection team confirmed that Wankhede Stadium and Eden Gardens in Kolkata, had failed to meet the November 30 construction deadline, and if they weren't ready by January 15, there could be no guarantees they would be handed over for the ICC event. That date has now arrived, but Lorgat played down concerns about the state of the grounds.

"You're probably referring to Kolkata or Wankhede," Lorgat said in Melbourne, when asked about the readiness of the venues. "There are certain stadia that are behind our schedule; we would have liked them to have been completed [by now]. I certainly do not envisage, and all of our reports do not indicate, anything like what transpired during the Commonwealth Games.

"The stadiums are slightly behind - there's four in particular, I think - but we'll be done before the start of the World Cup. Most of the stadiums are complete and ready. There are no alarm bells ringing. I'm sure that we'll be ready well before the start of the World Cup."

The lead-up to last year's Delhi Commonwealth Games was dominated by eleventh-hour efforts to get all the venues up and running, despite the city having had seven years to prepare. The World Cup is arguably more complicated in that it is being held at 13 grounds across three countries, and construction work is just one issue.

Ensuring security at all the stadiums has been another major task for the ICC, but Lorgat said he was happy with the measures in place. He said the organisation had matured in terms of infrastructure and management of security issues, and a more robust process was in place than might have been the case in the past.

"All full-members have now got a security manager and the ICC has got a security manager, unlike in the past where we might have been relying entirely on independent experts or police agencies to provide the security," he said. "We've got quite a co-ordinated approach which has matured very well. I'm quite confident with the measures that we've got in place ... that it will be well done."

Jayasuriya, Vaas out of SL World Cup squad

World Cup-winning veterans Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas were left out of Sri Lanka's final World Cup squad of 15 players named on Friday by the national selection committee headed by Aravinda de Silva.

The squad consists of 11 members who represented Sri Lanka in the three-match one-day series in Australia, which the visitors won 2-1, giving them their first ODI series win in Australia. The one surprise was that left-arm spinner Rangana Herath was picked ahead of offspinner Suraj Randiv.

Both Jayasuriya and Vaas had been named in the provisional squad of 30, and there was speculation that either one of the two players would make it to the final team. They had indicated to the selectors that they would want to play in another World Cup before announcing their retirements from international cricket. Both players have retired from Test cricket but have been playing one-day and Twenty20 cricket. Vaas last played an ODI in August, 2008, while Jayasuriya last played a 50-over game for Sri Lanka in December, 2009.

The only surviving member of the 1996 World Cup winning side is Muttiah Muralitharan, who retired from Test cricket after the first Test against India in July last year, but has remained eligible for selection in the 50-over game, and was always expected to make the final 15.

Kumar Sangakkara will lead the side with Mahela Jayawardene as his deputy. India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh host the 2011 World Cup, which will take place from February 19 to April 2.

Sri Lanka World Cup squad: Kumar Sangakkara (capt & wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath.

People must say that Sri Lanka treated us the best'

Cricinfo speaks to Suraj Dandeniya, the confident 2011 World Cup tournament director, close on the heels of the visit to Sri Lanka by an ICC delegation

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Suraj Dandeniya's previous association with Sri Lankan cricket had been very limited, with brief stints for St Thomas College, Mt Lavinia in 1975-76, and with SSC in 1977-78. Dandeniya, the nephew of the present interim chairman of Sri Lanka cricket, departed for the US to pursue a career in banking but has now assumed centrestage in executing Sri Lanka's leg of the 2011 World Cup with his role as tournament director. Cricinfo caught up with the reputed businessman, who runs around 15 varied operations, close on the heels of the visit to Sri Lanka by a delegation of ICC officials for a venue inspection tour last week.

	Aravinda de Silva gets ready to face the first ball at the Pallekele Stadium © ESPNcricinfo Ltd Enlarge

How have the preparations of stadiums - Pallakelle, Hambantota and the R Premadasa Stadium - for the 2011 World Cup gone so far?

Somewhere around May we identified the three stadiums. Once they were identified, there were two main sectors of the stadia that had to be worked on. One was the ground, which is most important, then the infrastructure of the stadia. When we started, the grounds were not ready at all, but I am very happy with the progress. We have already played matches in Pallakelle and by January-February we will have games in Hambantota. We are unlikely to have any problems with the Premadasa. Then comes the infrastructure, which we hope to start within the first and third weeks of January. We feel there is enough time and though we say that there is always a time limit for the infrastructure, we can go on till somewhere round January 15, 2011.

Do you think all three venues will be ready in time for the World Cup?

I am 100% sure they will be ready.

How did venues like Pallakelle and Hambantota get the nod ahead of other reputed grounds in Sri Lanka?

There are many reasons for that. When you have a World Cup, you've got to have a legacy behind it. Between 2004-2007, SLC brought the Pallakelle Stadium for about Rs 350 million and it was just lying there and going to waste. When we looked at the World Cup budget, we foresaw there were certain amounts that certain infrastructure developments could utilise. Hence we decided on Pallakelle.

The chairman wants to take cricket to the villages as much as possible. If you travel south from Colombo, once you pass Moratuwa there is no ground other than the Galle Stadium. There is nothing you can do with the Galle Stadium because of the heritage problems. It is very difficult to stage a one-day match because the maximum capacity is 7000 and you also cannot put up lights. With regard to Dambulla, we will have to spend at least Rs 800-1000 million to upgrade it with lights. The SSC and P Sara Oval, on the other hand, do not belong to SLC. The previous administrators had also looked at Hambantota as an international venue. Hambantota is a developing town. It is a place where there is easy access to the Uva Province, Sabaragamuwa Province and the Southern Province. We got 47 acres of land from the Board of Investment (BOI) and we looked at all the facilities before deciding to put up a stadium there.