da betcris： On paper there is no contest: cricketing superpower Australia, unbeatenduring their past 15 matches, versus Sri Lanka, a side whose form hasseesawed throughout the tournament and who limped into the last four
Charlie Austin17-Mar-2003On paper there is no contest: cricketing superpower Australia, unbeatenduring their past 15 matches, versus Sri Lanka, a side whose form hasseesawed throughout the tournament and who limped into the last four. Duringtheir earlier Super Six encounter at Centurion the South Asians were sweptaside, losing by 96 runs.However, Australia will be only too aware of the potential threat posed bythe enigmatic and flambuoyant Sri Lankans. Sanath Jayasuriya’s side was thelast team to beat Ricky Ponting’s team, a 79 run victory at Sydney, and theyalso have fresh memories of a thumping win in the ICC Champions Trophy lastSeptember,That victory was fashioned by their assortment of twirly men and, onceagain, if Sri Lanka are to pull off the impossible and upset the worldchampions, the slow bowling of Muttiah Muralitharan, Aravinda de Silva andSanath Jayasuriya appears to hold the key.Indeed, Sri Lanka could not have dreamed of a better venue. The slow StGeorge’s Park pitch at Port Elizabeth has already been the source of troublefor Australia’s top order in this tournament and, although the groundsman ispromising a surface with more pace and bounce, Sri Lanka are hopeful thattheir spin-orientated attack will find assistance.”Australia are a very good side. They are clearly the form team and are thefavourites. What brings them back to the field is the surface we are goingto play on. I think the wicket will suit Sri Lanka’s style of bowling morethan it did in Centurion.”” said Sri Lanka’s coach Dav Whatmore, a formerAustralia Test player, who added: “If we can muster up a figure close to250, it will be very interesting.”Ponting is wary, hopeful that the curator’s predictions prove correct: “Wehave not been all that happy with the pitches we have played on there. But,talking to the groundsman, the pitch for this game is going to be on adifferent block from the two pitches we have seen previously and he said heexpected it to be better.”Whether the pitch is slow or fast, however, Australia’s Brett Lee will be ahandful with the new ball. During the last match he tore into the Sri Lankantop order, sending Jayasuriya off to hospital and taking three wicketsduring a terrifyingly fast and hostile opening burst. Once again, he will betargeting Sri Lanka’s inform openers, hoping to exploit a perceived weaknessagainst short bowling.Ponting, who believes Jayasuriya “wriggles a little bit” when the bowlerstarget his rib cage, makes no apology for their aggressive approach: “Intentand intimidate – those are words that were used at the start of thetournament. It will be just a progression of what we started.”If Australia can make early inroads then victory can be expected. Jayasuriyaand Atapattu, who both scored hundreds during Australia’s Sydney defeat,have the potential to play match-winning innings but the middle order, theveteran Aravinda de Silva apart, has been suspect throughout the tournament,with Kumar Sangakkara, Russel Arnold and Mahela Jayawardene all havingfailed to pass fifty.The hugely talented but desperately out-of-form Mahela Jayawardene, who hasscored 16 runs in six innings in the World Cup, is set to miss out againafter Avishka Gunawardene grabbed his opportunity against Zimbabwe, scoringa valuable 41.De Silva, scorer of a brilliant 92 at Centurion and a traditional thorn inthe Australia side, could also play a key part. The 37-year-old, who couldbe playing his last international game, will have his sights set on afitting finale to a glorious career. Throughout his career he has reservedhis best for the big occasions, notably in the 1996 final when he blasted amatch-winning century, and, like any great entertainer, his sense of timinghas not been dimmed by age.Australia’s batting line-up, meanwhile, who will be without Damien Martyn(broken finger), will look to target the weak links in the Sri Lankanattack, particularly the support seam bowling, whilst also ensuring early wickets do not tumble like they did against England and New Zealand on thesame St George’s pitch earlier in the tournament.At least they will be welcoming back their savour in those two games,Michael Bevan, aka the “finisher”, who missed the last game against Kenyaafter suffering from soreness in his lower back. His return had prompted aselection quandary over whether to drop Ian Harvey or Andrew Symonds butMartyn’s withdrawal allows both to play.Australia (from):Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Michael Bevan, Andy Bichel, MatthewHayden, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Darren Lehmann, Jimmy Maher, Damien Martyn,Glenn McGrath, Andrew Symonds, Nathan Hauritz, Ian Harvey, Nathan Bracken.Sri Lanka (from):Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene, KumarSangakkara, Aravinda De Silva, Russel Arnold, Jehan Mubarak, AvishkaGunawardene, Hashan Tillakaratne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas,Dilhara Fernando, Pulasthi Gunaratne, Prabath Nissanka, Buddhika Fernando.