Sri Lanka vs. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013: A SWOT analysis of the two batting line-ups - Part 1
With three quarter-final games played, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is rapidly rushing towards the final. The fourth quarter-final is to be played between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 and England today at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Both the teams are well prepared
and evenly matched for this exciting knock-out game.
In the face of a wildly enthusiastic home crowd, the Sri Lankans are set to meet the mighty English, who are a bit out of form and fear losing the chance of becoming the World Champions, despite being the founders of the game.
Due to increasing temperature in the Subcontinent, the pitch is getting drier. The conditions will definitely suit the batsmen, as the ball will fall in the middle of the bat. Both sides will rely heavily on their batting line-ups to stay at the crease for
as long as possible and put up a decent total. Below is a SWOT analysis of the batting line-ups of the two teams to assess where they stand.
The English batting line-up includes Andrew Strauss, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood.
The Skipper Strauss is a left-handed opening batsman with excellent skills and a strong temperament to adapt himself according to the demanding situation. He plays confidently and comfortably to the medium-fast bowlers and loves to strike at the leg-side.
In the ongoing tournament, he has displayed a marvelous performance with his 88 and 158 score in two innings. Strauss is one of the most consistent openers that England will be looking to get a good start from and build a healthy partnership.
Only spinners can daunt him, as Strauss can sometimes struggle against the spin. Left-arm spinners often hamper and restrict him to score just a few runs before getting out. Playing against Sri Lanka, his threat will come from Rangana Herath, the left-arm
orthodox spinner. However, he will have an opportunity to play the pace bowlers aggressively.
Trott is a right-hand one-down batsman, but in the absence of Kevin Pietersen, he is to open the innings with Strauss. As a batsman packed with confidence and courage, Trott loves to play classic drives and aggressive stokes to both the mid-on and mid-wicket
sides. The medium pacer bowlers will help him to pile up a large score, while he can sometimes easily get out to the spinners. Trott’s form has been tremendous in this tournament, as he scored 62, 92 and 52 runs in some marvelous innings to lead his side towards
victory. Reverse spin deliveries can cause havoc for him. Moreover, playing as an opener is also a big challenge for him, as the pressure can be immense. Trott is likely to play Dilhara Fernando easily, as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Muttiah-Muralitharan-c78157 may upset him.
Bell and Collingwood form the middle-order of the English side. Both are right-handed batsmen with abundant batting technique and a vast knowledge of the technicalities that enable them to forge a long innings. Bell is performing at the peak of his form,
as he has demonstrated by scoring 69, 81 and 33 runs during this tournament. He is a very consistent player with an inherent ability to play spinners well. Bell can sometimes get confused by the swinging fast delivery and cause him to get caught at the leg
side or first slip positions. In the middle-overs, Bell is likely to play the spinners with some aggression, as they form a very big part of Sri Lanka’s bowling attack.
To be continued in Part 2
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