Sri Lanka v England World Twenty20 semi-final preview
England have signalled their intentions to get their hands on the World Twenty20 trophy in the Caribbean with three strong Super Eight wins, but face the toughest test of their abilities yet against Sri Lanka in the semi-finals.
Runners-up when the competition was held in England last year, Sri Lanka are a team with well-established credentials in the shortest form of the game, but in the Caribbean have been unable to muster the consistency that was the hallmark of England’s performances in the Super Eight stage.
However, when it mattered most against India in their final Super Eight match something clicked for Sri Lanka as they proved their run-making capabilities didn’t begin and end with the success or failure of opener Mahela Jayawardene as some of their other key batsmen found form.
Tillakaratne Dilshan is one who fits the description, and after struggling with his timing earlier in the competition he made a valuable 33 from 26 deliveries to help get his team’s innings back on track. Skipper Kumar Sangakkara, Angelo Mathews and Chamara Kapugedera were also among the runs for Sri Lanka in that match.
There’s no doubt Sri Lanka have assembled some exciting batting talent in their team, and if they can put together a similarly well-rounded performance against England, they could start to make things tough for Paul Collingwood’s side.
The Sri Lankan batting card is matched by an England line-up that will see new dad Kevin Pietersen return to the fray after missing their final Super Eight match to attend the birth of his son.
KP’s inclusion is a boost for his team, but England have now weaned themselves off their once unhealthy reliance on Pietersen to post a winning total, and demonstrated that with victory over New Zealand in their last outing.
Eoin Morgan is relishing the competition in the Caribbean, and has been England’s best batsman in three of their five matches, while the new opening partnership of Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb can also be rated a success.
Collingwood will be similarly impressed with his bowlers. The decision to play the two-pronged spin attack of Michael Yardy and Graeme Swann has paid dividends, and predictably it’s Swann, with eight wickets so far, who will enter the semi-finals as England’s leading wicket-taker for the tournament.
All-rounder Tim Bresnan may only have taken a quarter of Swann’s wickets, but his pace bowling has been his side’s most economical in the Caribbean and that’s happened while he’s been handed the tough tasks of bowling with the new ball and putting the brakes on any late flurry of runs from the opposition batsmen.
The success of England’s pace attack, which in addition to Bresnan includes Stuart Broad and Ryan Sidebottom, can be measured not only in wickets and wins, but in the fact that James Anderson hasn’t been able to break into the playing XI after the opening five matches.
Bresnan’s comments to the media after his player-of-the-match performance against New Zealand captured the state of mind that has helped propel England into the final four in the Caribbean.
"We don't want to be the team that gets to the semis and says 'that's a pretty good effort'. We've actually come to win this thing,” he said.
"On this trip so far, 75 percent of the lads have had a match-winning performance. The rest of the lads that haven't done something spectacular are saving it for the semis and the final."
Beware Sri Lanka, you’re next on the list.
Prediction: If England can carry their Super Eight momentum into the semi-final against Sri Lanka, they should win it.
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