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Lankan fielding below par:
Wicket looks good for 300 plus
England out for revenge:
Elmo Rodrigopulle reporting from New Zealand
Sri Lanka and England will be striving for a victory to keep their
chances alive and qualify to figure in the quarter-finals of the 2015
World Cup when they lock horns at the Regional Stadium, Wellington, on
Sunday. The action begins at 3.30 a.m. Sri Lanka time.
After stuffing the Bangladeshis in Melbourne, urged on by a wildly
cheering massive crowd of Sri Lanka supporters who had gathered from
Melbourne and the surrounding cities, the Lankans played the better
cricket to gain a vital triumph.
But the Sri Lankans who stood on the victory podium cannot be
satisfied with their performance. It was the poor fielding, both in the
air and on the ground and wayward bowling by the Bangladeshis that
allowed the Lankans to dominate.
Both Lahiru Thirimanne and Kumar Sangakkara were allowed to gallop by
being let off by the fielders. Had the chances being grabbed the final
script could have been different.
Sri Lankans were no better on the field. Butter-fingered will be the
best way to describe their catching and ground fielding that was a sad
sight to savour.
This style of game especially requires that fielding be excellent.
But if a team is poor in this department, then only luck could see
them progress.
And the Lankans seem to be having luck.
But that luck could soon become ill-luck if the poor fielding
continues.
Excuses citing the cold weather and having to have their hands in the
pockets are not acceptable.
The Lankan’s need not be told that however good the excuses, it is
not acceptable once in the big league.
Lankans must bat first
Captain Courageous Angelo Mathews if he wins the toss must bat. He
should not be swayed by the fact that England won the toss against New
Zealand and batted and got beat. That was due to bad batting by the
Englishmen.
The Lankan batting is okay with the top batsmen scoring runs.
In this game it will be the responsibility of Thirimanne and Dilshan
to give the team a solid start for Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Chandimal
and Mathews to build on and put pressure on England.
What must be encouraging to the Sri Lankans is that Lasith Malinga is
quietly dropping into the threatening bowler that he was. Against
Bangladesh he showed good line, direction and penetration.
Senanayake unplayable
The Lankan selectors on tour will not want to make any changes and
tinker with the winning squad. But if they do they will probably
consider who to dump and toss in offie Sachitra Senanayake. The England
batsmen found Senanayake unplayable when they toured Sri Lanka.
As for England they have a well balanced team. They showed their
return to form that they are renowned for after bashings by Australia
and New Zealand by thrashing Scotland. England will be looking for
revenge.
The openers Mooen Ali and Ian Bell are back in form. They showed this
with Ali making a scintillating century and Bell a patient and well
compiled half century.
Free scoring batsmen
Batsmen of the calibre of Gary Balance, Jos Buttler, Eoin Morgan, Joe
Root, Chris Woakes and James Taylor are free scoring batsmen and if
allowed to cut loose could maul any attack.
They have a set of new ball bowlers who have the ability to make the
ball wobble both ways. They have all proved match winners. They are
James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, Steve Finn. England will
look to Mooen Ali and Joe Root for spin.
At the time of writing the weather here in Wellington is brilliant
and it is expected to remain that way for the match, with predictions
are that it could get a bit cooler in the day.
The wicket looks a good one for a 300 plus total.
Regional Stadium, Wellington, Saturday
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