SRI LANKA Vs ZIMBABWE and MOVING FORWARD
Posted on March 10th, 2011
By M D P DISSANAYAKE
Opening Partnership:
Dilshan and Upul has entertained the cricket lovers of Kingdom of Senkadagala at the Pallekelle Stadium with fine knocks of centuries to take Sri Lanka to the quarter finals.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It was a sensationalƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ occasion forƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the enthusiastic crowd of Senkadagala ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to witness courageous batting performances with determination.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ As we believed always, ifƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Dilshan can remain at the crease for a reasonable number of overs, Sri Lankan score card will always be well over 300 runs.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The opening partnership between Dilshan and UpulƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ was 282 runs,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ just 4 runs short of 286 runs partnership between Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga at the Headingley in 2006.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In a spin friendly wicket, Dilshan also excelled with his right arm off breaksƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in the bowling department.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Zimbabians, selected a range of spin bowlers reading the pitch accurately in contrast to Sri Lankan selectors. The spinners pinned down the openers quite effectively, otherwise Sri Lanka could have scored closer to 400 runs.
Middle Order:
Tissara Perera was promoted in the batting orderƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ as aƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”pinch hitterƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ He failed to deliver the ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ goods in that role once again.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Mahela should have come at the fall of first wicket as he and Sangakkara are two batsmen in form.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Angelow and Chamara have failed again under pressure, exposing our weaknesses in the middle order.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Our present middle order is nothing short of wooden spooners except in rare occasions and poses a massive riskƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in future matches against top order teams. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ What risk management strategies are place in moving forward?
Bowlers:
Fast bowlers were expensive on both teams whereas spinners Murali (right arm off-break), Dilshan (right arm off break), Raymond Price (slow arm orthodox),Prosper Utseya ( right arm off-break), Graeme Creamer ( leg break Googly) and Greg Lamb ( right arm off break) all performed with excellent economy rates and taking wickets at regularly intervals, pinning down batsmen.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sri Lanka conceded far too many runs to Zimbabwe, as it had to contend with Murali and Dilshan in the spin department.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The local selectors have failedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to realize the spin friendly nature of the wicket, otherwise Sri Lanka could have maintained a higher net run rate by winning the match by a wider margin.
Moving forward and points table:
Sri Lanka with 7 points in 5 matches, has one more match left against NZ. The NZ currently with 6 points has two more matches with Canada and Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Pakistan also on 6 points with two more matches against ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Zimbabwe and Australia.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Australia is in a very fortunate situation, though currently placed in the fourth place with 5 points, has 3 more matches to play against Canada, Kenya and Pakistan.
Though there could be several permutations, the most probable scenarios are:
Scenario 1:
Sri Lanka beating NZ= 9 points
NZ beating Canada=8 points
Pakistan beating Zimbabwe =8 points
Australia beating Canada, Kenya and Pakistan=11 points.
Scenario 2:
NZ beating Sri Lanka and Canada= 10 points
Pakistan beating Zimbabwe and Australia= 10 points
Australia beating Canada and Kenya= 9 points
Sri Lanka remaining at ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 7 points.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
Barring any rain interruptions and ties, Sri Lanka will either be placed 2ndƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ( first scenario) or 4th (second scenario) in advancing to the quarter finals in the points table. If Sri Lanka were to be placed in the 4th position, it is likely to meet either India or South Africa in the first quarter finals.
March 10th, 2011 at 9:55 pm
A fairly reasonable evaluation of the game and yes why did the Lankans go with just one spinner?
Thanks to Dishan this lapse was compensated for but had there been a Mendis or a Herath the Zimbabweans could well have been bundled out for less and like you say the run rate would have been in the best interests of Sri Lanka. Zimbabwe made far too many runs than deserving against the Lankans where as usual the field placing of Sangakkara and some botchy fielding helped!
The selectors don’t seem to go with the age old cricketing concept that spinners operate in pairs but this is indeed true.
It seems fairly conclusive at this stage that the four teams in the quarter finals will be Sri lanka, Australia, Pakistan and New Zealand bar some stunning upsets and Sri Lanka should embolden their resolve to beat comprehensively any opposition which they seem to be in fine fettle for if the teamwork is effective.There still remains that evasive mystery as to why Sri Lanka have to play New Zealand at an Indian venue when they could well have had home turf advantage and why the de Silva duo ~ DS and Aravinda, heading the SL cricket selection panel have not confronted the ICC on the issue and are maintaining a stiff upperlip. After all Sri Lanka is no longer subservient to the peers of cricket are they?
March 10th, 2011 at 10:42 pm
Australia got away 4 times now without properly facing SL.
In 1996 they avoided the first round match citing security fears. But agreed to play the final in Pakistan!
In 2003 the semi final match was affected by rain and then D/L method was applied. The 2007 final was a total washed away game with over restrictions at the start and end.
This time too they escaped.
No wonder they have an unbeaten record since 1999!
March 11th, 2011 at 4:26 pm
There is another possible scenario: (Barring any rain interruptions and ties of course)
Sri Lanka beating NZ= 9 points
NZ beating Canada=8 points
Pakistan beating Zimbabwe and Australia= 10 points
Australia beating Canada and Kenya= 9 points
Here, Sri Lanka could be placed 3rd, if NRR is worse than Australia.
March 12th, 2011 at 8:08 pm
Whatever the senario is we need strong new ball bowlers. Strong means who are difficult to face. Malinga is surely difficult to face but not during first 10 overs. Kulasekara is far too slow to be threatening. Even Vass is better even though he is slow he is a stike bowler. If we keep playing these two Sewag,Tendulkar, Shane Watson, Ponting and South Africans will thrash us in first 10 overs until we cannot recover.
Considering who have been selected, my suggestion is Dilhara. He can bowl at 150 kPh and should be encouraged to do so. Tait is a good example. He was a wide bowl king. No bowl expert but he was given opportunity because of pace. After some time he became a feared bowler. We are wasting Dilhara. At the moment Dilhara and Perera is the only threatening new ball combination. Malinga is a must. We also need two good spinners. So who is to be dropped ? I cannot answer that. Probably Silva , even though he is the best fielder we have.
March 19th, 2011 at 7:01 pm
Will India deliberately lose to West Indies to avoid facing Australia in the quarter finals?
Any such bad sportsmanship should be looked at by ICC and punished.