Lions must devour the Kiwis or else lay down and die
Notwithstanding the fact that they are going into the final round two game against New Zealand under vice captain on tour Lasith Malinga in place of suspended Dinesh Chandimal, the Lankans will have to seriously ponder on how they are going to subdue the Kiwis if they have any firm ideas of moving for the semi-final action in Mirpur.
Chandimal’s absence means in-form left hand batsman Lahiru Thirimanne will join the Lankan middle order as Mahela Jayawardena’s initial dislocation of an index finger was not a serious one.
Sri Lankan cricketers Lasith Malinga (C) at a training session during the ICC World Twenty20 cricket tournament at The Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.- AFP
However, talking to the press after their game against England the Lankan skipper Dinesh Chandimal described their bowling efforts against England was a bad show. But, most of the others who were present at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong, felt that it was a bad composition. Badly planned and badly executed.
One day the Lankan attack is red hot chili-peppers. The next day it’s cold play. In the first two games the Lankan bowlers exploited the slow nature of the wicket and the given conditions, but when they had the proposition of handling a wet ball due to the prevalent dew, they floundered.
Their main pieces artillery – Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekera bowled well in both matches, while Angelo Mathews did well against the Proteas, but derailed from the very first over against the attacking Englishmen. Off spinner Sachitra Senanayake has been contributing to the cause, rather economically.
This is a phenomenon that the Lankans would have to dig deep and bring in immediate remedial measures. It is now evident that most of their bowlers when they encounter a situation of counter attack; they lose their bearings and also their way. This happened to spinner Ajantha Mendis and seamer Thisara Perera against South Africa and England. Perera went for 18 runs in two overs against South Africa and Mendis went for 44 runs in four overs. In the game against England, Perera went for 14 runs in the only over that he bowled while Mendis in his four overs was cartered for 52 runs by Hales and company.
When asked why wasn’t Dilshan — another off spinner who has bowled in difficult situations before was not thought of when Mendis was being targetted. Chandimal’s explanation was that they stressed upon Mendis’ ability to take wickets.However Chandimal admitted that their game against New Zealand is now vital and they may have to contemplate on some changes, but, could not stress upon any of that till their last practice session on Sunday. Speculations say that it is very likely that fast bowler Suranga Lakmal and experienced Rangana Herath would replace two beleaguered bowlers in the Lankan camp.
In the Lankan batting line up, there is not much worry as most of the batsmen have scored barring veteran Kumar Sangakkara, but, with his class Sangakkara’s contribution is only a matter of time. Besides in-form Thirimanne may be a better proposition in the middle to skipper Chandimal who has been struggling with the bat most of this tour.
In the New Zealand camp openers Kane Williamson and Martin Guptill has been in good nick while both McCullum brothers, Brendon and Nathan have the ability to hit the ball far and they have proved it against the Lankan attack even while playing in Sri Lanka.
The other hard customer that the Lankan bowlers will have to look out for is allrounder Corey Anderson. However, the New Zealand batting pivot is former skipper Ross Taylor who has been consistent against all types of attacks on all types of tracks.The New Zealand bowling attack is mostly medium pace based with experienced Kyle Mills and Tim Southee spearheading it.
It is the second match for the day, and the dew factor will be common to both teams. However the side that handles the conditions better – especially while fielding and bowling will have a better chance of booking their tickets to Mirpur.
The Lankan XL will be picked from – Kusal Perera, T.M. Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardena, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara, Angelo Mathews, Nuwan Kulasekera, Sachitra Senanayake, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Thisara Perera, Ajantha Mendis and Seekuge Prasanna.
New Zealand from — Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor, Colin Munro, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi, Nathan McCullum, Tim Southee, Kyle Mills, Mitchell McClenaghan, Trent Boult, Anton Devcich, Ronnie Hira and Jimmy Neesham.