Sell-out crowd expected at Providence Stadium today… …
Windies face Sri Lanka in must-win Super Eight match
By Vemen Walter
Guyana Chronicle
April 1, 2007
SURROUNDED by selection rift and more so their lethargic performance in their two preceding matches, it would be interesting to see what the West Indies have to offer, when they battle Sri Lanka in a crucial Cricket World Cup Super Eight match today, at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence.
Having sickly surrendered to Australia and New Zealand in their first two matches played in Antigua, in this decisive phase of the prestigious tournament, the Caribbean boys have found themselves in a must-win situation to keep their hopes alive for a semi-final birth.
However, with very little time to resolve several problematic issues that have arisen lately, West Indies, World Cup champions in 1975 and 1979 and beaten finalists in 1983, will certainly have to pull to themselves together and improve their cricket generally if they are going to prevent another defeat. With a large crowd expected today, Guyanese will be rooting for the West Indies.
Defeats at the hands of the Australia and New Zealand were not insoluble but the way that they were rendered was obviously painful.
Added to the agony was the amazing team composition for the New Zealand encounter, where specialist opening batsman Lendl Simmons was preferred to bat at eight in the order at the expense of fast bowler Jerome Taylor - their quickest bowler, thus inexplicably weakening the bowling attack.
At present only ahead of minors Ireland and Bangladesh in the Super Eight points standings, as compared to the Sri Lankan who are also on two points but with a superior net run-rate and a match less in third position, West Indies’ inconsistent batting has been most worrisome.
In five matches so far, the West Indies much-touted batting line-up, which could be compared with any of the other participating teams, failed to score 250 with their 241 versus Pakistan in a winning cause being the highest.
Skipper Brian Lara has been the most consistent batter despite notching up just a solitary half-century while although Marlon Samuels and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin also have a fifty each under their belts along with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the only batsman to score a hundred, the lack of consistency is very much prevalent.
Of growing concern too is the poor showing of Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan, two batsmen who must score heavily for West Indies to succeed.
Both Gayle and Sarwan are yet to make a fifty and there isn’t a more ideal opportunity than today for both men, coupled with elegance of Lara, Chanderpaul and others, to warm the heart of disgruntled fans.
But, coming up against a Sri Lanka attack which comprises two world class bowlers in that of left-arm pacer Chaminda Vaas and off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, backed up by the energetic 23-year-old speedster Lasith Malinga, who etched his name in the record books a few days ago by becoming the first bowler to grab a helmet-trick in international cricket, they are likely to have their work cut out on a track that Vaas and especially Murali may relish bowling on.
Sri Lanka’s skipper Mahela Jayawardene has made it quite clear recently that his charges are aiming to reclaim their swashbuckling batting approach, a move that was integral in their 1996 World Cup triumph after losing by one run to South Africa in a nail-biter in last Wednesday’s debut international match at the Guyana National Stadium.
Jayawardene’s side definitely possesses the necessary armoury to achieve such an objective, led by the dangerous Sanath Jayasuriya and the likes Upul Tharanga, Chamara Silva, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillekeratne Dilchand, Russel Arnold and Jayawardene himself.
Taylor possibly would to be reinstated into the West Indies starting eleven and alongside fellow Jamaican Daren Powell, Corey Collymore, Dwayne Smith and Dwayne Bravo, coupled with the off-spin of Gayle and Samuels, surely will have a lot of work to do.
West Indies and Sri Lanka previously met five times before in World Cup Cricket with West Indies triumphing on four occasions and Sri Lanka once.
The two teams’ last engagement in a World Cup was in 2003, when Sri Lanka won by six runs in Cape Town, South Africa.
Sri Lanka went on to reach the semi-final but lost to Australia by 48 runs via the D/L Method.
The action starts at 09:30 h.
Teams: West Indies – Brian Lara (captain), Christopher Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Devon Smith, Denesh Ramdin, Dwayne Smith, Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard, Ian Bradshaw, Corey Collymore, Daren Powell and Jerome Taylor.
Sri Lanka – Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Russel Arnold, Marvin Atapattu, Malinga Bandara, Tillekeratne Dilchand, Dilhara Fernando, Sanath Jayasuriya, Nuwan Kulasekara, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara, Chamara Silva, Upul Tharanga and Chaminda Vaas.