The first match of the super-Sunday will see the Sri Lankan side play New Zealand at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. And with the losing team in the
game almost all set to bow out of the tournament, it will assume the proportions
of a must-win game for both. Click for Live Score Card of Sri Lankan vs New ZealandTalking from permutations and combinations perspective,
let us assume that Sri Lanka goes on to win the game. In that case, they will
end with two wins from three games, whereas New Zealand will have none from two.
With both, South Africa and England having already won one, and
about to face each other, it will mean that come what may, the Kiwis will not
be able to finish in the top of the group and will be knocked out of the tournament! Let
us assume that the New Zealand side did win the game. That will mean that Sri
Lanka will end with one win off their three games. And in that case, if South
Africa won their game against England, they will have two wins from three games
and qualify for the semi-finals whereas both England and New Zealand - who would
have had one from two - would face each other and the winner will get to the semi-finals
and knock Sri Lanka out. That means, if Sri Lanka did lose this game, they will
need to hope that England wins all their three games, allowing the Lankans to
force a three-way tie for the second place with the Kiwis and the Proteas! All
in all, it will be fair to say that both the sides need to win the game to harbour
hopes of getting to the knock-out stage. Fortunately for the New Zealand
side, the match will be played at the Wanderers, and the green on the wicket will
ensure that Sri Lanka's biggest trump cards, Mendis and Murali are almost rendered
useless. Such has been the swing and seam on the wicket, that if one adds to the
fact that it will be an early morning start and there could be moisture on the
wicket, it is almost a given that the team winning the toss would want to field
first and end up almost winning the match! That said, the teams will need
to play good cricket over a period of the entire duration of the game. In the
England game, there was an evident let-up of pressure after the English side had
scalped the first four wickets for 17, and this allowed them to get away with
more than 200. Both the sides will have to guard against that and keep bowling
at the right areas throughout. Sri Lanka may want to look at their batting line-up
and make the necessary adjustments, probably even get their lower order up and
their main guys down the order!
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