 The first game of Super Eights on Friday will see two Asian teams, Sri Lanka
and Pakistan fight it out against each other to try and draw first blood
in their bid to get to the semi-finals. The match will be played at Lord's in
London. Sri Lanka has entered into this round with a clean record, having beaten
both Australia and West Indies in the first round of matches. Pakistan, on the
other hand, needed to defeat Netherlands in a must-win game to enter the second
stage.
Sri Lanka will be thrilled with Sanath Jayasuriya's excellent inning of 81
in only 47 balls, a return of form for the near-40 year old all-rounder. However,
it will also be his opening partner, T.Dilshan's continuing aggression that
would have warmed the cockles of the Sri Lankan hearts. On the other hand, Kumar Sangakkara has had one game in which he played out the innings to lead his
side to a victory, ensuring that all the top three batsmen are in touch, and
could pose issues to the opposition bowling which has gone weak.
That said, Sri Lanka need their middle order in the form of Mahela Jayawardene
and Chamara Silva, amongst the rest to fire, a wicket or two early in
the inning could send the cat amongst the pigeons.
That the Sri Lankan bowling is one of the strongest on paper is doubtless.
If Lasith Malinga's high-speed and swinging yorkers aren't good enough, there
is always a Muthiah Muralitharan to bowl his four overs with a tight leash around
the batsman, and Ajantha Mendis, who could mesmerize the opponents and
change the complexion of the game in the matter of minutes.
Pakistan was struggling with a couple of injuries to its key pace bowlers,
as both Yasir Arafat and Sohail Tanvir look like they may not play another
game. The Pakistani board has in turn asked the technical committee to have
at least one replacement coming their way, making Abdul Razzaq, the first ever
ICL-return to grace the cricket field.
Having said that, the Pakistanis will also need their batting to click, especially
at the top. With Salman Butt in a slightly off-colour mode, it will be
necessary for Kamran Akmal to take on the quick bowling at the start of the
innings - if Sri Lanka does not open with Jayasuriya again - and not allow the
spinners to settle when they come into the attack.
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