Sri Lanka vs West Indies – http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 WT20 Super Eights – Possible ticket to the Semis – Match Preview
After two enthralling matches between the Group 2 http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 take on the Kiwis first, the home side will face off against the Caribbean men in the latter half of
the day. Having won a game each, both http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 and West Indies will be competing for a possible ticket to the semis.
The Pallekele International Cricket Stadium will be hosting the match, and keeping in view the previous two games at the venue, expecting a high-scoring bout would not be unreasonable. The Lankans kicked off the Super Eights with their match against New
Zealand, and the Pallekele wicket supported the openers from both sides. The Kiwi openers, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MJ-Guptill-c1980, went on to register 58 and 38 respectively, while Mahela Jayawardene and Dilshan scored 44 and 76. The Lankans went on to win the match
courtesy a super over, but a total of 348 runs were scored on the Pallekele wicket that day. Likewise, the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 – England encounter saw a total of 343 runs being scored on the same pitch.
Given the scoring trends and the type of wicket at Pallekele, winning the toss and choosing to bat should be a no-brainer. While the Windies will be looking towards Chris Gayle and newcomer Johnson Charles, the Lankans would hope for another swift take-off,
courtesy the explosive Tillakaratne Dilshan and skipper Mahela Jayawardene. With both teams having specialist batsmen for the format, the selection of bowlers is more important a decision. Ajantha Mendis, who bagged his career best figures (6/8) against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045,
went for plenty (ironically his career-worst) against Zimbabwe (1/48). Windies’ http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sunil-Philip-Narine-c91869 has struggled for wickets as well, not living up to the hype, despite his captain’s backing.
With seamers having better luck at Pallekele, Sri Lanka will be depending on Nuwan Kulasekara, who found good movement off the pitch and in the air against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754, and came back with two scalps. Ace pacer Lasith Malinga on the other hand, has been strictly
average, both in terms of wickets and economy, and will be looking to give in a performance to match his reputation as a T20 specialist. Newcomer Akila Dananjaya, who was lucky in his first outing with two wickets, got struck on the face and awaits a decision
on his fitness following a fracture on his cheek bone; if he is ruled out, the Lankans will have to choose between another spinner and a batsman.
With http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Andre-Dwayne-Russell-c44235 would be a good move. Narine also has his team’s backing and will be looking to contribute towards his side’s progression towards the
semis. Other than specialists, the Windies have found a utility bowler in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/CH-Gayle-c1221, who has been effective with both the bat and the ball and seems set to continue his impressive run in this tournament.
Today’s results can be decisive for Group 1, with England and New Zealand facing off earlier, and having lost a match each, it will most likely be game over for one of them. The encounter between Sri Lanka and West Indies may well be one between Sling (Malinga-Edwards)
and Spin (Mendis-Narine), with the bowlers facing added pressure given the batsman friendly nature of the wicket.
Anything over 180 should be a winning total for the team batting first, and it would then be up to the bowlers to redeem themselves, given that the rain Gods decide not to play spoilsport
Sri Lanka (probable): 1 http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SL-Malinga-c2540, 10 and 11 Akila Dananjaya,
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/HMRKB-Herath-c1559
West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 http://www.senore.com/Cricket/D-Ramdin-c1299 (wk), 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Ravi Rampaul,
11 http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Samuel-Badree-c88341.
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