da 888casino： Stung by their comprehensive defeat to India, Sri Lanka will aim toseal a berth in the final when they take on New Zealand in a leagueencounter of the Coca-Cola Cup triangular one-day series in Colombotomorrow
30-Jul-2001Stung by their comprehensive defeat to India, Sri Lanka will aim toseal a berth in the final when they take on New Zealand in a leagueencounter of the Coca-Cola Cup triangular one-day series in Colombotomorrow.India’s first win in the series, a seven-wicket defeat of Sri Lanka,has opened up the tournament and Sri Lanka and New Zealand cannot taketheir place in the final for granted.Sri Lanka, who won their first three matches in the series beforelosing to India, lead the table with six points but a loss to NewZealand tomorrow means theoretically there would still be apossibility of their being knocked out.A Kiwi win tomorrow could mean a three-way tie if India clinch theirremaining two matches on Wednesday and Thursday. The net run ratewould come into play in such a scenario.The match assumes significance for both Sri Lanka and New Zealand, whohave four points from two wins. The teams would be looking not onlyfor a win but also at improving their net run rate which will becomecrucial in the case of a tie.Sri Lanka have defeated New Zealand in both their earlier matches inthis series and will naturally have a psychological edge. Except forthe debacle against India, they have been the most consistent side inthis tournament performing well both with bat and ball.Sri Lanka have a formidable batting line-up that would be out to provethat the dramatic collapse against India was just an aberration. Thehosts had made a remarkable comeback from 27-4 to defeat New Zealandby five wickets in their previous match and the batsmen will berequired to show such character and discipline again, now that thestakes are much higher.Skipper Sanath Jayasuriya has been very consistent in this tournamentand he can be depended upon to give another fiery start. MahelaJayawardene has been totally out of touch and Sri Lanka might replacehim in tomorrow’s game with Avishka Gunawardene who did not play thegame against India.Marvan Atapattu, Russel Arnold, Romesh Kaluwitharana, KumaraSangakkara and Suresh Perera have all made useful contributions withthe bat and they will need to fire in unison tomorrow.As usual Muthiah Muralitharan will be the key to the Sri Lankanbowling. The wily off-spinner has troubled the Kiwis considerably inthe previous matches and the hosts will once again rely on him to givethem the vital breakthroughs.Muralitharan has got able support from Kumar Dharmasena who bowledquite well against the Indians and is very good at restrainingbatsmen. Veteran Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando will spearhead thepace attack while Jayasuriya and Arnold will also chip in with theirspin bowling.New Zealand have been boosted with the recovery of their captainStephen Fleming who is expected to play tomorrow after missing twomatches.The Kiwis must be rueing their chances when they let off Sri Lankafrom a winning position in the previous game. They cannot afford anysimilar slip-offs this time.Nathan Astle will be the key to a healthy total for New Zealand. Hehas so far delivered in this series and will be expected to come upwith another fine innings tomorrow.Opener Mathew Sinclair, Jacob Oram, Craig McMillan and Chris Harriswill also need to contribute substantially with the bat to carve out awin for New Zealand. The Kiwis’ fate could depend much on how thebatsmen tackle Muralitharan. They might plan to see off the spinwizard and go after the other bowlers, who, however, are no noviceseither. It remains to be seen what strategy New Zealand plan fortomorrow.Kyle Mills and Darryl Tuffy bowled a fine line in the previous matchagainst Sri Lanka and with Dion Nash back in the side, the New Zealandbowling attack is very sound. Left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori is amongthe wickets in this series and he has been economical too.The teams (from):Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Marvan Atapattu, MahelaJayawardene, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Kumar Sangakkara, Russel Arnold,Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Dharmasena, Chaminda Vaas, Dulip Liyanage,Avishka Gunawardena, Chamara Silva, Suresh Perera, Dilhara Fernandoand Dinusha Fernando.New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Mathew Sinclair,Craig McMillan, Chris Harris, Adam Parore, Lou Vincent, DanielVettori, Dion Nash, Jacob Oram, Daryl Tuffey, Kyle Mills, GrandBradburn and James Franklin.