Sri Lanka v Pakistan: 1st ODI – Sri Lankan batsmen to watch-out for
Pakistan and Sri Lanka are going to play the 1st ODI of the series of five matches today, November 11, 2011, at Dubai Sports Club (DSC). Prior to this, Pakistan won the 3-Test series 1-0. It was the Men in Green’s first Test victory over the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lions-c808
after a gap of 5 years.
After losing the series despite delivering some outstanding performances, the Islanders seem to be somewhat confused about the ODI clashes which will involve Pakistan’s maverick all-rounder, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482.
However, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DPMD-Jayawardene-c1397, are rays of hope for them as they possess the potential to turn the tables and change the game.
Here we take a brief look on the stats, records and key skills of each.
Kumar Sangakkara
It will not be wrong to term the former captain as one of the greatest batsman of the time. The 34-year-old left-hander can preserve his wicket, yet score swiftly . He is adept in forging valuable partnerships, be it in Test or ODI cricket.
After relinquishing captaincy and the wicketkeeping position, the veteran cricketer is now completely focused on his batting. Sangakkara is equally impressive in all three formats of the game. His Test and ODI averages are 56.93 and 38.00 respectively.
Interestingly, the legend staged his International debut against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 on the same year. Soon after his appearance at the global stage, Kumar rose to fame
partly due to his charming and cool personality and partly for his offensive batting style.
Sangakkara has established himself as a front-footed batsman, with cut and pull shots as his specialties. The batting star amassed enormous runs including double centuries, centuries and fifties in the recently-concluded Test series. He is likely to cause
huge damage to the Green Shirts in tomorrow’s match.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/TM-Dilshan-c2691
The all-rounder is doing a fair job with both ball and bat. After taking the leadership baton from Sangakkara, he has become more responsible.
The rock-star batsman often opens the innings with Sangakkara and lashes big scores. He also bats at No.3 position on some occasions, depending on the situation.
Dilshan loves to hit off-side strokes. The right-hander stunned all bowlers by developing a new shot during http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World T20 2009. It was later called the Dilscoop. He used to play this shot off and on in his innings.
For his excellent and offensive batting style, Dilshan is counted among the most destructive openers of this era, no less than India’s http://www.senore.com/Cricket/V-Sehwag-c2739, who is famous for hitting a boundary on the very first ball of every innings of the World Cup 2011.
The skipper did well in the Test series against Pakistan. He is supposed to lead from the front and deliver a standard batting performance in a bid to steer his side to win the opening ODI.
Mahela Jayawardene
The 34-year-old right-handed batsman is undoubtedly a match-winning player, whose form and technique rivals the greats. The usual opener and occasional one-down batsman often contributes crucial runs to his team’s innings.
Like Sangakkara, his Test batting average is above 50. His ODI stats are also glaring. The stylish batsman staged his International debut in 1997, and played his first ODI game in 1998.
Mahela feels easy to score runs all around the wicket with sterling shots and tricky singles. However, he loves to play cover-drives. He also hits cuts and dabs to spinners.
As the star batsman could not do satisfactorily well in the Test series, he is geared up to show his guts in the ODI contests.
Last Word
If the batting trio thrives, the Lankan Lions will surely be able to start the series on a winning note. Nevertheless, the match will be a rip-roaring competition, likely to attract huge crowds.
Tags: