Sports

Sports

Bangladesh out to stop Lankan bashing
By Marlon Fernandopulle
Despite the strong pre-series belief of Bangladesh Coach Dav Whatmore that his team will put up a strong performance in the one day series against Sri Lanka and that it will be a two –horse race, the three match series between the two countries is set to end in the only possible way it could – a three- nil whitewash in favour of the hosts.

As the two countries prepare to meet in the third and final game at the R Premadasa Stadium today Sri Lanka will be eager to drive the final nail into the Bangladesh coffin and hand the Bangladeshis their third successive defeat inside five days. The Lankans who are only behind the World Champs Australia in the ICC rankings lived upto their status when they drubbed Bangladesh by a whopping 88 runs and 75 runs respectively in the first two games. Although the margin of victory will not indicate that the true dominance of the hosts was much more. Today the Lankans are expected to continue in that vein and demolish their opponents.

Batsmen Avishka Gunawardene and Thilan Samaraweera who both missed out in the first two games are expected to play today with Skipper Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya, the most likely players expected to sit-out at today’s game. New boy in the block Upul Tharanga who grasped the opportunity with both hands with a half-century and a century will open the batting once again with Avishka Gunawardene. Gunawardene and Tharanga who swamped the Bangladeshis in the only practice game with a double century stand earlier this week will be looking to continue their fruitful alliance against the tourists.

One area that the Lankans will be looking to improve is with their medium pacers. Apart from Chaminda Vaas and Farveez Maharoof their other medium pacers have failed to deliver. Dilhara Fernando and Dilhara Lokuhettige who were both lacking in accuracy and consistency need to raise their game to a higher level if they are to justify their inclusion in the team. Bangladesh will be looking to salvage some of their lost pride with an improved performance today. The team has improved in leaps and bounds over the last few months under the stewardship of coach Dav Whatmore.

They have come up with some cameo performances in the past but need to do it more frequently at the highest level if they are to compete successfully against other countries.

As proved in the past the Bangladeshi’s are talented. Their batsmen look the more flamboyant type and need to occupy the crease for a longer period of time and build some useful partnerships. Their fielding was not upto the mark in the two previous games, which eventually made them pay a heavy price. They are expected to bring a few changes for today’s game as they make an all out effort to spring a surprise at the Lankans and boost their confidence ahead of the test series.

Top