And now we meet the ‘big guns’

Irrespective of what transpired yesterday, now both Sri Lanka and the West Indies team managements must be at the drawing boards once again to work out how they would steer through the rest of the tournament which is also a very fine precursor to the World Cup in the West Indies early next year.

For the West Indies this show means a lot as they are the defending champions of the ICC trophy and also the hosts of the World Cup next year. As for them there is no let up, they have everything to lose. But how they went about with their game against Sri Lanka leaves much to be desired.

As desired Sri Lanka, took their berth in group ‘B’ and will now join Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand.

In the aftermath of Sri Lanka’s easy wins against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and the West Indies there was a question rankling in my heart. Had Sri Lanka done enough while getting through the two initial hurdles? Would they be let off by the rest of the big boys if they let up in some departments as they did in the two initial games? In my mind there was something a miss… something that did not fit into their style of play – in short it was a different ball game. In the final game the Lankan bowlers made good, but, yet the no balls and wides were a plenty.

Then without trying to define it myself, I sought the views of a much respected cricketer in Mr. Sidath Wettimuny to give me his views on matters that were questions to me.

He explained – “I see your point of view, but as it is I would not overly panic at this stage. Something that I am aware for sure is that when you take on sides which are very much weaker than you, even you cannot bring out your best competitiveness that is in you. So as a result, even you tend to play a kind of sub-standard cricket.

“However so far what has alarmed me in the first two games is the amount of extra balls that we have given the opposition. When you are engaged in a competition of this nature you cannot afford to give away so many extra balls” explained the former Sri Lanka opening batsman.

The next subject he trod upon was the Sri Lankan batting. He said that he was happy about the progress in Sri Lankan batting and added “Generally Sri Lankan wickets are considered as slow wickets. But it seems that the Indian wickets are now even slower than that. So when you bat on these dead flat wickets you have to make a special effort as the ball takes ages to reach the bat. However I feel that so far the Lankan batsmen have batted well enough and with a little more concentration they could do better”, and added that he was very impressed with the way that young Upul Tharanga had batted so far in the series.

In the bowling too Sidath did not see immediate terrors. He saw young Lasith Malinga shaping up well. In reality he has the best economy rate among Sri Lankan bowlers next veteran spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. However Sidath was a bit concerned about Dilhara Fernando. He said “He really has regained his speed. That was evident, but, the upsetting factor is the number of wides and no balls that he has sent down. At the same time he would have to improve upon his accuracy.

So far among the bowlers has been young Farvez Maharoof. In the first two games against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh he was the most expensive bowler and the relatively inexperienced batsmen of both teams handled him with consummate ease.

Then Sunday Musings posed the question if Sri Lanka has under used promising leg spinner Malinga Bandara who even is in line for accolades from the ICC. Sidath too agreed. He said “I feel Malinga Bandara is a very good bowler and he could be very…. very effective on a dead wicket of this nature I see no harm in him being included in the side”.

In the first two games Sri Lanka’s champion spinner Muttiah Muralitharan bagged only three wickets in the twenty overs that he sent down in spite of being the most economical among the lot. In answer to this question the former Sri Lanka cricketer and administrator indicated that Muralitharan was a ‘big match’ player. “When the stands are empty and there is no crowed it does not give them enough impetus to perform at their best.

Being one of the better sides in the shorter version of the game is a tag that Sri Lanka had achieved from their toddler days in ‘big time’ cricket. At the same time on paper this is about the best bowling combination that we have had since we had to qualify to take part in the very first World Cup in England. Yes, we do have very good medium fast bowlers who could deliver the ball over 140kmph in Fernando and Malinga. Then we have one of the best components in seam bowling this time around the world in veteran Chaminda Vaas.

In off spin bowling Muttiah Muralitharan is incomparable. Jayasuriya’s experience is enough to out-think many a batsmen in today’s arena. So much so we also have the luxury of not playing promising Malinga Bandara at all.

But, with all this talent and experience can our bowlers put their hands up and be counted? If not time will run out!