A fascinating re – match of the 2007 final, with two of the pre – tournament favourites involved and a major clash of cricketing styles.
There is Sri Lanka who are strong on spin but weak against pace bowling, a flaw exploited widely by Pakistan. Australia are weak against spin (they have lost to India and South Africa, teams strong in that department in the warm up games) and strong with pace bowling (having few of the bowlers who can actually use raw pace in this part of the world).
At home, you have Sri Lanka, who have a chance to justify their billing as one of the tournament favourites after a disappointingly sluggish defeat to an admittedly inspired and quality Pakistan side, who managed to bunt their batting, but most notably bowling abilities. They have had a nice confidence booster since in the shape of Kenya, where their (and arguably the world’s best) paceman Lasith Malinga announced his return to full fitness by storming his way to an unprecedented second World Cup hat-trick.
 |
| Dilshan's slow start against Pakistan played a big part in Sri Lanka's defeat |
In no uncertain terms Sri Lanka boast the best bowling attack in the world. In master spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who retires at the end of the tournament, and paceman Lasith Malinga, the co-hosts possess two of the most feared one-day bowlers in the world. With this in mind they shouldn’t have lost against Pakistan but it’s worth nothing they were one of few sides to restrict a team to under 300 in this tournament; The responsibility for that defeat lies with the batsmen.
Indeed, the openers for Sri Lanka have done a good job all tournament. There’s not been a single game in which they’ve failed to go to at least 60 for the loss of the first wicket, and that would have easily been at least +20 had it not been for a run out against Canada.
The middle order, however, hasn’t been such a shining light, with the collapse of their batting attack from 75-0 to 96-4 ending the game against Pakistan. Jayawardene and Samaraweera made only three between them, and thus the chase was ended, with no half centuries from the top three in the starting order.
Australia have won the last three world cups, and they’ve shown all the right credentials in their warm up games, coming from a sticky position to beat Zimbabwe by a relatively comfortable total in the end (91 runs) despite the run – out of Ricky Ponting and the sub-par scores of Brad Haddin and Callum White, before a convincing thrashing of New Zealand with plenty to spare.
 |
| Mitchell Johnson - Took easy wickets against NZ |
For all that NZ performed very poorly that day (Lee was handled with caution but remarkable average bowling from Tait and Johnston managed to gain wickets) Australia were very good looking that day and the opening partnership between Haddin and Watson has grown into one that can smash and gain a good footing in equal measure, while all Ponting needs to click and he’s away – The game could rest on who performs best between him and Sangakarra in the batting stakes - But they will have to do it without Mike Hussey.
There’s not much else to say about Australia’s bowling. have been rewarded for having stuck to their guns and delivered unadulterated pace. Brett Lee’s welcome return, bowling with consistent accuracy, has seen him restrict the opposition in great style while Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson bowl balls that could easily see the best stumped for answers, so their confidence will pay a crucial part.
In yet another big match – up between two teams going to win this tournament, and although they’ll have to again handle the big pressure of being at home (something which has proven too much for Bangladesh and India already) quality spin, a good track record, and possibly the world’s best paceman in Lasith Malinga give Sri Lanka the advantage here. However, it’s a game too tight to call in all reality and the best bet maybe to put faith in the excellent Shane Watson to make 30 runs or more, and covering that by backing the Sri Lankan opening batsmen to do the same given how well the openers negotiated Pakistan before losing 4 wickets.
Advice
2 pts Shane Watson to score over 30.5 runs (5/6 Ladbrokes)
2 pts fall of 1st Sri Lankan wicket at over 30.5 runs (5/6 Ladbrokes)
No comments:
Post a Comment