Published: Mar 29, 2011, 08:37 AM (IST)
Edited: Mar 18, 2014, 05:52 PM (IST)
By Dileep V
Sri Lanka lock horns with New Zealand in the 1st semi-final of the 2011 World Cup at the Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, on Tuesday. Sri Lanka made it to the last four with an impressive 10-wicket win over England in the quarters, while New Zealand had a shock win against the South Africans. The New Zealanders will be aiming for their first final, while Sri Lanka will be hoping for a second consecutive finals appearance.
Head to head
New Zealand lead the head to head with 35-33 between the two countries. Sri Lanka though have an edge when playing in their own back yard with 12 wins out of 19. In World Cups Sri Lanka have a 5-3 win-loss ratio. The two met earlier in the group stages of the tournament in which Sri Lanka registered a comfortable 112 run win. They also met in the same stage during the 2007 World Cup with Sri Lanka winning by 81 runs thanks to a wonderful century by captain Mahela Jayawardene.
|
Matches |
Lanka win |
NZ win |
No Result |
|
| Overall |
73 |
33 |
35 |
4 |
| In Sri Lanka |
19 |
12 |
5 |
2 |
| In World Cup |
8 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
Sri Lanka have the advantage in batting
The Sri Lankan top order is in excellent form, with three of them featuring in the top five run- getters in the tournament. Openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga are in fine form with two hundreds each and have two double century partnership between them. What has been impressive is the rate at which both of them have been amassing runs – over 90.
The middle order is a bit of concern for the Lankans. Apart from Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, none of them have got opportunities to spend time at the middle. If New Zealand run into the rusty middle order then they have a good chance of gunning for a win.
The New Zealand openers are in fine nick too, though not in the same vein of form as their opposition’s openers. They have complemented each other; Brendon McCullum being the aggressor and Martin Guptill the accumulator. Apart from his blitz which floored Pakistan, Ross Taylor hasn’t shown any consistency, while Jesse Ryder’s match-winning 83 against South Africa comes as a relief for the team management. The concern for the team would be their batsmen’s strike rate and against a very strong Sri Lankan bowling attack it would prove costly.
Sri Lanka and New Zealand batting performance in this World Cup
| Batting Position |
Average |
Strike rate |
100s/50s |
| Openers (1-2) | |||
| Sri Lanka |
68.82 |
91.20 |
4/2 |
| New Zealand |
46.60 |
77.84 |
1/3 |
|
Middle order (3-5) |
|||
| Sri Lanka |
59.36 |
90.07 |
2/3 |
| New Zealand |
34.93 |
69.14 |
1/2 |
|
Lower Middle Order (6-7) |
|||
| Sri Lanka |
13.75 |
129.41 |
0/1 |
| New Zealand |
26.00 |
85.60 |
0/0 |
Muralitharan leads the way
With the Sri Lankan pitches assisting spin, it’s no surprise that Muttiah Muralitharan leads the chart for Sri Lanka with 14 wickets in six innings at an impressive average of 16.15 and economy just below four. Dilshan also has bagged six wickets with his part-time off spin, while Ajanta Mendis and Rangana Herath have chipped in at crucial times. Lasith Malinga, their pace spearhead, is just below Muralitharan with eight wickets, but with a higher economy of just below six. Angelo Mathews has been a great support to Malinga, picking six wickets. The Sri Lankan attack has variety written all over them and it’ll be a miracle if New Zealand manage to get past them.
The New Zealand medium pacers have reveled in the difficult conditions. Tim Southee and Jacob Oram have been outstanding, bagging 15 and 12 wickets respectively. Offie Nathan McCullum has bagged eight wickets and has also taken the responsibility of opening the bowling for them. The major concern is the form of Daniel Vettori, who has so far taken just two wickets in four Innings.
Premadasa favours team batting first
Though the Premadasa Stadium at Colombo is a difficult one for chasing down totals, Sri Lanka’s easy outing against England means the pitch is behaving even throughout the match and toss wouldn’t be a major factor in deciding the fate of the match.
Sri Lanka have played 82 times at this venue with 50 wins, while New Zealand have been able to muster just three wins in nine attempts. Out of the 100 matches played at this ground, 78 of them have been played under lights. 46 times a team batting first have won the match, while 25 times a team have been successful in chasing. The overall average score under lights is 238, batting first it is 245 and 230 batting second. In World Cups though the overall average comes down to 231.
Considering the history. teams would want to win the toss and bat on this ground.
(Dileep.V is a Scouser fan, Sports freak, Movie buff, Laggard Quizzer and dreams of setting foot on Anfield one day)
