 The two remaining Asian teams, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will face
each other in the finals of the second edition of the ICC World T20 at Lord's
on Sunday. This was after Pakistan shocked South Africa in the first semi-finals
at Trent Bridge and Sri Lanka routed West Indies in the second game at
Oval in London.
Spin will be a factor that would play a rather huge role in this game, with
both teams loaded with spinners who have the quality and the wherewithal to
take the game away from the opposition. If Sri Lanka possesses the magic of
Ajantha Mendis and Muthiah Muralitharan, then Pakistan is not
far behind with the presence of Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal, both of
whom have mesmerised the opposition batsmen no ends.
To add to the similarities, Pakistan then possesses a very accurate death-bowler
in Umar Gul, but their opponents in the final negate that effect by having a
Lasith Malinga whose yorker-length bowling is a must-have in this format of
the game.
Thus, where the two teams differ in their bowling department is the support-staff;
Pakistan has a rather nippy bowler in Mohammad Aamer who can do damage
with his short stuff, while Isuru Udana and Angelo Matthews are anything but
fast, but possess enough tricks in their bag to make the batsmen go round. Mathews'
three wickets in the first over of the West Indian inning in the semi-final
would remain fresh in his mind and will go a long way in boosting his confidence.
Hence, it will be rather easy to conclude that the basic difference between
the two sides would be their batting. And with the return to form of Shahid
Afridi, there isn't much to choose from even there. Kamran Akmal looks like
he could match the in-form T. Dilshan shot-for-shot, if not for longevity, while
Younus Khan and Kumar Sangakkara are from similar moulds of batting;
both can hit the big shots but eschew them till it is obviously and absolutely
necessary.
The one worry though, for Sri Lanka would be the absolute of run of bad form
of Sanath Jayasuriya. Jayasuriya failed to get going in the semi-finals
- much like a lot of other cricketers - but what was worse was the fact that
he barely got his timing through most part of his inning. His counterpart opener
in Shahzaib Hasan did not have a great semi-final, but the couple of games leading
up to that were decent enough for him to get another run.
All in all, the contest looks too close to call, and both Sri Lanka and Pakistan
look equally armed to win the title; it could just boil down to who wants to
win it more badly.
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