Dilshan farewell on a tricky wicket
For the first time in the series, Lankans find themselves in a must win situation. The significance is that it would be farewell to a soldier who has been right in front of the firing line as the country’s opening batsman for the greater part of his career which began way back in 1999. Today, T.M. Dilshan will walk to the crease in a One-Day International for the last time. So, now it’s up to Mathews and company to fulfil this obligation of a fitting parting gift. Sri Lanka Cricket Manager Charith Senanayake described the squad to be intent. He said “The rest of the crowd has understood the importance of a fitting farewell for Dilshan and at the same time Dilshan himself understands that this is the best possible time he could have arrived at this decision. A win would give – Dilshan – one of the most prolific cricketers in the game a fitting final salute”.
Yesterday, the Dambulla wicket still had a tinge of green and Senanayake described this and the strong breeze would help the Australian seamers and for the first time they could have the edge considering the lateral movement the ball could have as a result of the prevailing conditions. He also added, in spite of the dry conditions Dambulla evening are cooler than that of Colombo. Senanayake continued “The most important would be how the newly upgraded lighting system would perform. Besides the fact that we are playing at this venue after a considerable break, the conditions would be quite alien even to the Lankan contingent”. The biggest challenge facing the Lankans would be to get a good start. Admittedly Mitchell Starc has been a thorn in the flesh among to the Lankan openers.
Now with helpful conditions Starc is sure to be a real problem to cope with. In the first ODI Starc rattled the stumps of Kusal Janith early in the inning and then in almost identical fashion sent back opener Danushka Gunatilleke in the game that Sri Lanka won. However the batting pivoted by young Kusal Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal have up to the fight and in the last game skipper Angelo Mathews and Kusal Perera also joining in culminated in the Lankans registering that match winning total of 288 runs. Yet, they may be able to do better if they could bat through the allotted fifty overs. It is very likely that the Lankans would have at least one more seamer for today’s game and the selectors have also included young fast bowler Lahiru Kumara in place of spinning allrounder Milinda Siriwardena.
The selectors have included experienced Suranga Lakmal into the squad, but with allrounders Thisara Perera and skipper Mathews already there to help in the seam department, there would be an opening only for one genuine fast bowler in the side. However the Lankans would tilt towards the spin abilities of Dilruwan Perera (off spin) and new find Amila Aponso playing only his second ODI and took 4 for 18 in the second ODI against Australia at the R. Premadasa Stadium to help Sri Lanka draw level in the series. Now as the Australian tour captain Steven Smith has gone back for resting and is preparing for their forthcoming tour of South Africa. David Warner has the opportunity to captain his country for the first time.
However, Warner’s captaincy experience so far is very limited. He captained the Sunrisers Hydrabad in this year’s IPL season. In spite of Warner taking the mantle as captain, he is also under pressure as he failed in both limited overs outing played so far. Meanwhile the Australians also have brought in fast bowler Scot Boland and batting allrounder John Hastings – picked originally for the T-20 game with the departure of Smith and fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile has been ruled out with an injury to his lower back. Sri Lanka (from): Kusal Janith Perera, Kusal Mendis, T.M. Dilshan, Dinesh Chandimal – Vice Captain, Angelo Mathews – Captain, Dhananjaya De Silva, Angelo Perera, Avishka Fernando, Danushka Gunathilaka, Suranga Lakmal, Thisara Perera, Dilruwan Perera, Seekuge Prasanna, Lakshan Sandakan, Amila Aponso, Lahiru Kumara.