The Sri Lankans have shown that they are a team that should not be taken lightly. The manner in which they demolished hosts South Africa has made all their group matches very crucial because one slip and there is a danger of not qualifying for the semifinals. The England team plays their first game with the advantage of knowing what South Africa’s position is.
If South Africa lose to New Zealand, then they are as good as out of the tournament. That will make England’s task a lot easier for then they know that they have to win two games to get through to the knockout stage. While the Lankans will be on a high after their win over the Proteas, the England team will be looking for something to lift their spirits after the losses to Australia in the one day series that finished recently in England.
Their bowlers may well relish bowling on the South African pitches and in a way it will be a dress rehearsal of sorts for them as England play a test and one day series in South Africa after the ICC Champions Trophy. The batting also is a cause for worry since apart from the skipper Andrew Strauss nobody has been consistent against the Australians. The Lankans will not make their problems any easier since not too many batsmen in the world have fathomed what Ajantha Mendis bowls and not too many can pick up the slingy action of Lasith Malinga and then there is the magician Muralidharan who is never easy to take apart.
In limited overs cricket, he bowls a lot quicker through the air since batsmen are looking to go down the pitch and attack him and so he does not get the loop that deceives the batsmen in test cricket but he remains a threat because of the variety at his disposal. In any case no score can be considered safe against the mercurial Sri Lankans. The kind of form Dilshan is in, the sublime touch that Jaywardene posseses coupled with Sangakarra’s intelligent batting no total can be considered a secure one.
Then of course the old warhorse Jayasuriya has shown as recently as in the series against India that he still has the hunger for runs and is hitting the ball cleanly.
England’s task is cut out for them and on present form, the Lankans should win easily but they are also from the subcontinent where complacency is part of a cricketer’s kit bag and so can be unpredicatble.
The heavy weather that the Pakistanis made of chasing a small target that the West Indies had set them is an example. Though they eventually won with plenty of overs to spare, they would have felt that they should have done so with the loss of just a couple of wickets. The pitch at the Wanderers was a bouncy one and that should make the new ball bowlers look forward to the chance of buzzing a few around the batsmen’s ears in a format that is more friendly to the batsmen than to the bowling fraternity.
— Professional Management Group
