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Sri Lanka back in the groove
THE competition may have caught up with them after their trail-blazing performances of 1996, but Sri Lanka remain serious contenders as the World Cup comes round again. Last summer’s disappointing tour of England may have led to them being written off in some quarters, but with some of the world’s most destructive players in their line-up they can never be counted out. Sri Lanka failed miserably to live up to expectations in England, losing the Test series 2-0 and missing out on a place in the NatWest Series final after a string of poor one-day performances. Not all of this can be attributed to their lack of experience in English conditions, but certainly Lord’s in May is a world away from Colombo. Proof that their below-par performances were out of character came almost as soon as they left Heathrow, with a 2-0 Test walloping of an albeit poor Bangladesh side and victory in the Morocco Cup. Their success in the three-nation tournament in Tangiers and run to the rain-ruined final of the ICC Champions Trophy provided a strong indication that Sanath Jayasuriya’s side was very much back in the groove. The captain’s leadership qualities may still be in question, but his efforts with the bat in both Morocco and on home soil in the Champions Trophy were back at the high levels people have come to expect of him. In Morocco, he was
unrecognisable from the player who struggled in England — smashing his
way to 299 runs at a strike rate of 99. He rounded off that tournament
with a run-a-ball 71 in the final against South Africa but sadly ended
the game with a dislocated shoulder.
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With the doggedness of Marvan Atapattu and Russel Arnold as well as the talents of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara in the line-up, their batting looks strong. Bowling-wise, much still depends — too much in fact — on the genius of Muttiah Muralitharan. Murali, undoubtedly one of the greatest off-spinners of all time, has a stack of Test wickets to his name and can win matches single-handedly - but in the one-day game he can be expensive. He has to have back-up from elsewhere. Chaminda Vaas is an excellent new ball bowler, but Sri Lanka badly need one of their seemingly endless stream of medium-pacers. The likes of Nuwan Zoysa, Dilhara Fernando and Pulashti Gunaratne have all been used among others. One of the most recent to emerge, Chamila Gamage, took a wicket with his first ball in Test cricket — but whether he will finally be the one to ease the burden on Murali and Vaas remains to be seen. Yet if the batting fires as it can, Sri Lanka will fancy their chances of chasing any total in South Africa — and they remain dangerous opponents. — ABF |
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