SWOT analysis: http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 and Sri Lankan batsmen - Part 1 - ICC World Cup 2011
As the first round of the ICC World Cup 2011 is rushing towards the end, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820. It will be a fierce competition, as both teams are of equal strength and experience. Sri Lanka understands
the pitch conditions and will put up a good fight, as New Zealand is full of confidence from their winning momentum.
Batting is the basis of every cricket team no matter how strong the bowling side is, victory cannot be achieved without some skilled and talented batsmen. The ongoing World Cup has proved to be a batting haven, thanks to the dry, slow and flat pitches of
the Subcontinent. Long innings, world records, sterling drives, quick centuries and highest totals have been the highlights of this tournament.
A SWOT analysis of the key batsmen of both the teams is as follows:
Sri Lanka’s batting department includes the likes of Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.
Tharanga and Dilshan form an excellent opening pair, as both are marvelous batsmen with extra-ordinary skills. Tharanga is a left-hander, while Dilshan plays with a right-hand bat. Tharanga loves to play straight cut shots with full force. He seems to be
in good form, as he scored 67 against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045. Tharanga’s weak point is his aggressive shots that are often lofted and caught. If he survives the pressure at the initial stages of the innings, he will pile up a big score against the
Kiwis.
Dilshan is a brash, relentless and offensive batsman who loves to play off-side shots. He is a consistent player and has the ability to forge a good partnership with Tharanga. During his 5 tournament innings, Dilshan scored 50 against Canada, 41 against
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, 44 against Kenya and a marvelous 144 against Zimbabwe. Both the openers developed the highest ever partnership of 282 runs against Zimbabwe in World Cup history. Dilshan’s weakness lies in his periodic lapse of concentration and blatant play that
often leads to careless aerial shots. Against New Zealand, he will definitely take the fight to Tim Southee and James Franklin. However, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Luke-Woodcock-c1860 may pose a threat to him in the middle-overs of the innings.
Jayawardene and Sangakkara are two top class middle-order batsmen, who have the ability to anchor the innings and keep the scoreboard ticking. Both are constant, reliable and highly skilled batsmen with a keen knowledge of technical batting and bowler variations.
Jayawardene is a right-hander, while Sangakkara plays left-handed.
Jayawardene is a cool and calm batsman who plays easily to all sides of the wicket. However, his favourite shots include some accurate cover-drives and cuts behind the stumps. He feels more comfortable with the spinners, as pace bowlers often give him problems.
Jayawardene demonstrated good form during this tournament, scoring 100 against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Canada-c748, but in the other three innings, he fell for less than 10. He is likely to play well against the Kiwi spinners, but his cuts behind the stumps may be caught at the first
slip position that is held by Ross http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915.
Sangakkara, being captain and wicket-keeper, possesses a tremendous amount of experience. Being a front-foot player, he plays cut and pull shots, with occasional sharp sledges from behind the stumps. He showed very responsible play during the 4 innings of
this tournament, scoring 92 against Canada, 49 against Pakistan and 11 not out against Zimbabwe. If he survives the pressure of the initial few overs, he is more than likely to stay at the crease and bat for a large total against the Kiwis.
Continued in Part 2
Tags: