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Brett Lee's first test wicket against India during the 1999 Boxing Day test at the MCG. For more videos check out www.cougarcricket.net
11th Match, Group C: Canada v England at Gros Islet - Mar 18, 2007 England won by 51 runs England 279/6 (50 ov); Canada 228/7 (50 ov). After the disciplinary problems of the previous day England managed to keep their focus, dispatching Canada by 51 runs in St Lucia, to open their World Cup account. Ed Joyce and Paul Collingwood hit sixties as England began and ended their batting strongly before early inroads with the ball put the result beyond doubt. But while England have avoided adding their name to the list of upsets from Saturday, the performance didn't quell the major doubts surrounding the team. As against New Zealand the batting faltered with the loss of three top-order wickets, this time for eight runs, then there was a lack of cutting edge from the bowling attack when the threat of the new ball had disappeared.
Murali made it five for the innings, for merely the 54th time in his career, as Andre Nel played back to a viciously turning offbreak and lost his off stump as the ball ripped through the gap between bat and pad. Boje had a big job on his hands, shielding the last two batsmen, but then neither Dale Steyn nor Makhaya Ntini had the skills needed to counter the ever-present danger of Muralitharan. Steyn jumped down the track to Murali, was beaten all ends up as the ball turned in enough to clip the leg stump. That wicket made it ten in the match for Murali.
From Game 9 of the 1995/96 World Series Cup ODI match between Australia & Sri Lanka. Played at the MCG, Australia.
The scores are level last over 1 run to win!
Munasinghe was given a brief run in the one-day side and, despite not earning further representative honours, he did not let the team down. Munasinghe had the ability to bowl a consistent line and length and thus maintained an impressive economy rate in his limited matches. A constant figure in representative sides, he played numerous matches against touring sides before being selected for the 1995-96 tour of Australia. His best performance came at the MCG when he ran through the Australian top order taking 3 for 30, in the process setting up victory for Sri Lanka. Following the conclusion of the World Series he was not selected for the 1996 World Cup and drifted from the international scene. - Cricinfo.
http://www.hilalscricket.com/ Murali gives us a rare look into his magic, courtesy of Mark Nicholas and the Channel 9 crew.
In 2002, Wisden carried out a statistical analysis of all Test matches in an attempt to rank the greatest cricketers in history, and Muralitharan was ranked as the number one bowler of all time. Muralitharan's unique bowling action begins with a "flapping wings" run-up, and culminates with an extremely wristy release which had him mistaken for a leg spinner early in his career by Allan Border. Aside from his off break, he also is a master of the doosra, the surprise delivery which turns from leg to off with no discernible change of action. He is also able to bowl orthodox leg spin, as shown during the South African tour of Sri Lanka in 2006, managing to extract prodigious spin.
The world seems to close in on a batsman who is so oppressed. Reason departs and is replaced by panic - ``Do I lead with pad or bat? I must not lunge with both together. For how long can I play a miss? I must not be shackled, I must attack this demon.'' So Butcher tried the chasse again but this time, fatally, he left his crease just a split second before Muralitharan released the ball. The bowler dragged the fizzer shorter by a foot, beat the batsman's desperate lurch and had him stumped by a country mile. Dreamy, old-fashioned stuff captured in one man's artistry. But Muralitharan is different again from what has gone before. He controls the ball from his fingers but uses an enormous flick of the wrist to increase the revolutions which make the ball spin so. He is not a 'drifter' in the way that, say, Fred Titmus was, or Robert Croft is now, someone who swings the ball towards the slips from an off-stump line and then trusts in spin to create the gap between bat and pad.
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