This could well be the biggest and best match of the competition. Both Australia and Sri Lanka have been in wonderful form, and they will look to seize invaluable psychological points from the encounter. It appears that both teams have already made it to the semifinals, as have the New Zealanders. They would like to enter the knockout stage on a winning note.
Sri Lanka have a ‘complete’ team. The conditions and wickets have suited their style of play, but it takes more than mere luck to produce high-quality cricket day in and day out. They have played some outstanding cricket. All the batters have made runs, and leading the way is Jayasuriya.
The longer he keeps going, the better he keeps getting! The bowlers have done as well as the batsmen, and the fielding has been outstanding. Lasith Malinga will miss the game due to his ankle injury, and that’s a shame. But it does make sense to ensure that he is fully fit at the start of the knockout stage. It is a good idea to ‘hide’ him from the big guns and unleash him at the climax of the tournament.
The Australians could not have delivered a better riposte to their critics. Shaun Tait and Brad Hogg have been outstanding, the former having covered excellently for the injured Brett Lee. They are yet to lose a game in the competition, and the only thing left for them to do is ‘finish it off’ with a bang.
Many Sri Lankan supporters might contend that their side will be going into the game with a slight advantage. After all, Jayawardene’s team played the Kiwis last, while the Aussies tackled and thrashed Ireland. But I don’t think that will be much of a factor. The Australians played England before they met Ireland, and as I pointed out in my previous column, that game was a lot closer than what the scorecard suggested.
What the experts won’t recommend is fiddling around with a winning combination. I don’t see any sweeping changes in the lineups of both sides, besides the obvious absence of Malinga. Australia will most probably not play Watson and give him some extra time to recover from his injury. They might play him in the last Super 8 game against New Zealand, but only as a batsman. Depending on how he performs, they will then decide whether to play him in the semis.
That brings me to a player who has missed out on virtually the entire competition because his teammates have been on a roll. The fact that Sri Lanka have been able to keep a batsman of Marvan Atapattu’s caliber outside the first XI speaks volumes about their talent. Although they have all but made it to the final four, I think they will like to one at least one more game to feel absolutely safe. They will maintain the winning combination, and Atapattu’s fans will not see him in action against the Australians. A win against Australia will give them a tremendous shot in the arm, and they will surely try to do just that. If they do win, then Atapattu might get an opportunity in the last game.
This World Cup has been criticized for its length, among other things, but it has certainly witnessed cricket of a very high quality. The South Africans did thrash the West Indies, but if New Zealand and England manage to get the better of them, then we may be in for a photo-finish. The net run-rates will come into play then, and the teams that have been the most consistent will qualify for the semifinals. For the moment, all the sides in contention would do well to forget about net run-rates and just try to win.
We are in for some exciting times.
