The final - a heart stopper

by ELMO RODRIGOPULLE

The Mini World Cup final between Sri Lanka and India will be a heart stopper.

The Lankan dynamo  - Aravinda de Silva

Those weak of heart will do well not to be involved in the game, watching the action on the ground, live on TV or listening to the radio.

A close analysis of the teams will show that they are evenly balanced in all departments. Man to man there is little to choose.

As the previous games showed, even winning or losing the toss will not matter.

Of paramount importance will be: who will play the better cricket today. The team performing the basics, playing the bowling on its merits, taking the catches that are offered, remembering the adage that catches win matches and the team bowling line and length, wicket to wicket should proudly hold aloft the ICC mini World Cup.

But one must not forget the glorious uncertainties associated with this time honoured game. Like in life in sport too there are the 'ifs' and 'buts'. We would not like to burn our fingers by hazarding a guess, because the accepted norm is that a game is not won or lost till the final ball is bowled.

With crowd support likely to be evenly shared, the team able to cope with the pressure that will be tremendous should finally end up victors.

Sri Lanka and India will take the field having fine tuned all plans and strategy. There will be no letting up, no quarter asked or given.

Leading from the front - Indian Skipper Sourav Ganguly

Of vital importance will be the wicket. How will it play? Will it take spin from early on, like it did in the Aussie/Sri Lanka game? Will it be pacey? Will it be an uneven wicket? These are the questions that the captains will be seeking answers for when they move to the centre for the all important toss.

Pitch readers predicting after viewing the surface have been more often that not proved wrong. A wicket cannot be predicted until the game is in progress. Some captains would prefer to bat first, while some other like a chase.

In a final there is no second chance. So today's game will be like a lottery. The side that has luck smiling on them will win.

But one must also remember that the two captains Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka and Sourav Ganguly of India are two of the best in world cricket today. They are good readers of situations, able to pressurise the opponents and grab the early initiative.

If the earlier games are an indication, then the teams will go in spin heavy. Sri Lanka has in off spinning sensation Muttiah Muralitheran who can run through a side in the 10 overs he is allowed. He is such a wonderful and god given bowler to Sri Lanka and world cricket with the ability to spin even on ice.

India too have two good spinners in Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble. But they are nowhere in the class of Muralitheran.

Over then to the stadium that former President Ranasinghe Premadasa built for wonderful game of cricket and may the better side win. The teams must remember that it is not the winning or losing that matters, but how one played the game.