Sri Lanka will be at full strength when they take on Nepal in the quarter finals of the 16th Asian Games Twenty20 cricket tournament to be played at Guanggong Cricket Stadium in Guangzhou on Wednesday. Coach Sumithra Warnakulasuriya said Sri Lanka will not take any chances and will play its full team for the opening quarter final game. “Since this is a knock out and we are playing directly in the quarter final without any preliminary round experience on the wicket, we are not going to take any chances,” Warnakulasuriya told the Observer Online after today’s final practice session.
“We had a look at Nepalese side in their preliminary round game against Hong Kong. Their strength is bowling and fielding though the same could not be said about Nepal’s batting. Hence, this is a knock out, we take this game seriously without underestimating our opponents,” he said.
Sri Lanka coach said the toss will play a decisive role. “The wicket is onto the slow and turning side. They are using only two tracks for the entire tournament. Hence, batting the toss will be a big advantage,” he said. If Sri Lanka skipper Jehan Mubarak calls correct, they will not hesitate to first lease of the wicket. “If we can bat first and set a big total, we could keep them under pressure. But if they bat first, we have to make sure that we restrict them to a low total,” Warnakumasuriya said, adding that the team is in good shape, anxiously waiting to make their Asian Games debut.
In the first quarter final scheduled for Wednesday morning session, Group ‘D’ table leaders Hong Kong will meet Afghanistan. The winners of this game will play Pakistan in Thursday’s semi finals. The second quarter final between Sri Lanka and Nepal will be played in the afternoon session at the same venue.
If Sri Lanka wins their quarter final game against Nepal, they will advance to play Bangladesh in the second semi final to be played on Thursday. Bangladesh made it to the last four, when they beat Malaysia by 70 runs in their quarter final match played today. Electing to bat first this morning, Bangladesh made 150 for 7 in 20 overs with opener Mohammed Mithun making a top score of 39. In reply, Malaysia were bowled out for 80 in 19.4 overs.