Weather holds the key
View(s):Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe Tri-nation final
Big day for the young Lankan brigade
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Nov 26: As for Sri Lankan public, the biggest question of the day is how the weather in Zimbabwe would behave. The final of the Tri-Nation limited overs tournament between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka takes place at the Queens Sports Club Grounds, Bulawayo this morning.
Weather in Zimbabwe has not been the most conducive for the game of cricket especially during the last week and that largely helped Zimbabwe pip the West Indies when it counted the most. First, the second game between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka was abandoned after 13.3 overs. Then the do-or-die battle between the West Indies and Zimbabwe was decided on the Duckworth and Lewis method when the Caribbean lads ended up at 124 for 5 in 27.3 overs in reply due to rain to home teams’ score of 218 for 8 in 49 overs.
The Lankans who qualified for the final after their win against the West Indies cannot sit on their laurels during the final. The game was far too close for the team’s comfort and composure. After a scoring a mammoth total of 330 for 7 at a run rate of 6.60 runs per over, one expected to romp home easily. But, during the run of play while fielding they were making far too many basic errors, which were compounded by sloppy fielding.
The team management laid a lot of emphasis on the allround abilities of individual players. Shehan Jayasuriya and Sachith Pathirana came into the final line up as the lead spinners of the combination. But, when it came to the crunch Jayasuriya bowled only four overs for 20 runs and Pathirana failed to get a batsman out after seven overs at a cost of 51 runs – leaking runs at the rate of 7.28 per over. This is when specialist spinners Lakshan Sandakan (Left arm chinaman) and Jeffrey Vandersay (right arm leg spin) in the line-up.
The saving grace for the Lankans on that day were their seamers – who experienced some hot weather when southpaw Evin Lewis was cutting the Lankan attack to shreds, held on to their nerves when it really mattered. At the same time had the Lankans accepted all the chances which were offered to them the West Indies definitely would not have got so near.
However on Friday, during the Zimbabwe-West Indies game it was the spin bowlers on both sides who ruled the roost and that was largely the deciding factor. Prior to the toss skipper Upul Tharanga would have to take that point also into consideration.
Out of the Lankan arsenal the most settled is their batting. Dhananjaya de Silva though doing frequent shifts in his position has kept his nerve and is scoring. Niroshan Dickwella has made the most of the chance offered and is among the runs while the timely return to form of Kusal Mendis earned him the man-of-the-match award in their last outing.
Left arm spinner Tendai Chisoro turned the tournament on its head by capturing two important top order wickets in eleven balls during the last game. Besides the batting of Sikandar Raza had been a boost to the Zimbabwe batting. It would be better if the Lankans keep a close vigil on their skills while the game is on and the final line-up would depend on the wicket and conditions.
Sri Lanka from: Upul Tharanga (capt), Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Perera, Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Mendis, Shehan Jayasuriya, Asela Gunaratne, Sachith Pathirana, Nuwan Kulasekera, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Lakshan Sandakan, Jeffrey Vandersay, Lahiru Kumara and Dasun Shanaka.
Zimbabwe from: Brian Chari, Chamu Chibhabha, Hamilton Masakadza, Craig Ervine, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams, Peter Moor, Graeme Cremer (capt), Donald Tiripano, Tendai Chisoro and Chris Mpofu.