By Suneer Chowdhary
On one hand is a side which was the favourite to lift the trophy at the start of the tournament. On the other, is a team which in their dark shirts weren’t even the dark horses to get beyond the quarter-finals. So when Sri Lanka meet New Zealand in the first semi-final of the ICC World Cup at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, the home team can be expected to have an easy ride to the final.
Published: Mar 28, 2011, 04:48 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 28, 2011, 04:48 PM (IST)
Brendon McCullum of New Zealand looks on during the New Zealand nets session ahead of their semi-final match against Sri Lanka
By Suneer Chowdhary
Colombo: Mar 28, 2011
On one hand is a side which was the favourite to lift the trophy at the start of the tournament. On the other, is a team which in their dark shirts weren’t even the dark horses to get beyond the quarter-finals. So when Sri Lanka meet New Zealand in the first semi-final of the ICC World Cup at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, the home team can be expected to have an easy ride to the final. Now, if only cricket was that rational a sport.
Sri Lanka’s only blip in the tournament had come in their game against Pakistan. That game apart, the batting has done whatever was expected out of them while the bowling is deemed to be one of the strongest in the competition.
New Zealand have two losses to their name; to Sri Lanka and Australia. Interestingly, in both games, the Black Caps were absolutely lapped by their oppositions but when one juxtaposes that with their wins over Pakistan and South Africa, it makes things difficult for the predictions.
It has been often said in the tournament that the Lankan middle-order is a suspect but to get to that stage would require the Kiwis to get rid of Tillakaratne Dilshan (2 centuries in this World Cup), Upul Tharanga (2 centuries), Kumar Sangakkara (one century) and Mahela Jayawardene – no easy task under any conditions let alone their own backyard.
That is not to say that New Zealand cannot get close. Just that they will need to reach beyond their means in all three departments of the game. New Zealand will realise that they have already done much better than what they were expected to, as their league game against Zimbabwe being tipped as a virtual pre-quarter-final exhibits. Sri Lanka have a lot to lose and if the New Zealanders could get the hosts under early pressure, they possess the ability to push the label of chokers onto another top side.
One would have thought that Muthiah Muralitharan has had a quiet tournament, but his 13 wickets have come at an average of 16 and an economy of less than four – a deadly combination in the context of this game. Where the plot could thicken is Muralitharan’s injury, which made it difficult for him to bowl in the quarter-finals. There were two wickets but he also went for 54 off his nine – a rarity in itself.
New Zealand would have seen this and based on how Muralitharan goes in his first couple of overs, the side could decided to go after the maestro. With Lasith Malinga not getting as much traction as he had from the Kenya game and Ajantha Mendis and Rangana Herath having scalped a total of five wickets between them, the Lankan bowling may not be as strong as it is portrayed to be.
In any case, the best chance for New Zealand to get to their first ever World Cup final is to exhibit aggressive intent than to meekly go about their business as the English batsmen had strategized in the quarter-finals.
Time ripe for a century from one of the top-order Kiwi batsman and to get in Daryl Tuffey in place of Luke Woodcock.
Teams:
Sri Lanka (Probable): Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara (c&wk), Thilan Samaraweera, Thisara Perrera, Angelo Mathews, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan, Rangana Herath, Ajantha Mendis.
New Zealand (Probable): Brendon McCullum (wk), Martin Guptill, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Kane Williamson, Nathan McCullum, Daniel Vettori (c), Jacob Oram, Tim Southee, Daryl Tuffey.
Umpires: Steve Davis (Australia) and Aleem Dar (Pakistan)
Time: 14.30 local (09.00 GMT)
(Suneer is a Mumbai-based cricket writer and can be contacted at suneerchowdhary@gmail.com and Tweets here: @suneerchowdhary)
Pictures © AFP
