 Sri Lanka will take on Zimbabwe at the Pallekele Stadium in Pallekele
near Kandy. Sri Lanka have played four games so far, won two against Kenya
and Canada, lost to Pakitan while their game against Australia was abandoned.
This means that they will now need to win against Zimbabwe to ensure that they
top the group in the tournament and play the fourth-ranked side in the quarter-finals
from the other group. This could well be a minnow nation and that is where the
advantage will lie.
Click for Live Score Card of Sri Lanka Vs Zimbabwe
On the other hand, there is a lot that Zimbabwe need to do to qualify. First
of all, they have lost to Australia and New Zealand already which means that
they need to beat not only Sri Lanka but also Pakistan to have an outside chance
of making it to the quarter-finals. Having said that, it is going to be immensely
difficult given that the conditions do not suit them too much and the Sri Lankans
are much more talented.
The Pallekele track was interesting. It afforded swing in the first few overs
of the game, but towards the end of the innings, it made for easy batting. Then,
when the second team batted there was enough bounce and swing to ensure that
they struggled throughout the innings and were bowled out.
This will mean that both the sides will now need to probably win the toss and
want to chase down the target. The dew will make it difficult for the side bowling
second - batting first - and that could also influence the decision to field
first and allow the opposition to not get away to a very big total.
Sri Lanka will look to their premier fast bowler in Lasith Malinga to
get them the wickets while Zimbabwe will want to ensure that they see off the
ten overs from Malinga. However, the bigger question is how will the Zimbabweans
get the wickets that they need to get the better of the opposition.
For one, Zimbabwe rely on their spinners, Ray Price and Prosper Utseya to get
the wickets. This will mean that the side will need to get them to pick up the
wickets but the problem with that is that they will be playing on a track which
will assist the pace bowlers and the spinners will not get much assistance.
Sri Lanka will be favourites to win their third game of the tournament but
if they lose, things will look difficult.
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