26 October 1998
World champs take on Kiwi resilience
Rabeed Imam
After prevailing in a last ball drama against luckless Zimbabwe,
Stephen Fleming's New Zealand face the might of the world champions
Sri Lanka in the first quarterfinal of the Wills International Cup at
the Bangabandhu National Stadium today.
Both teams had practice yesterday morning--the Sri Lankans at the
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) ground and
New Zealand at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium(DCS).
Although Arjuna Ranatunga's side will start as firm favourites, the
Kiwis can take heart from the fact that they enjoy the edge in head to
head clashes between the two countries.
The two teams have met each other on 39 occasions in one day
internationals with New Zealand winning 24 times while the Lankans
have 12 victories to their credit.The sides have played one tied match
and there was no results twice.
In the match against Zimbabwe, New Zealand were unusually sloppy on
the field,and were guilty of dropping catches and bowling too many
wayward deliveries.Only the resilient batting of skipper Fleming, Adam
Parore and a swashbuckling last ditch cameo from Chris Harris ensured
the Kiwis don't pack their bags early.
Fleming knows there is little margin for error against as formidable
an opponent as Sri Lanka. " Obviously they have world class players
and are a very confident team. We can not afford to make too many
mistakes against them. But it only takes three or four players to play
well on the day and you can win a match. We have players with the
ability, so it will be interesting."
Only young Daniel Vettori managed to bowl his off-breaks with any
consistency against Zimbabwe and Fleming's work is cut out in that
department. However, with a powerpacked batting line-up consisting of
brilliant stroke players like Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan and the
captain himself, New Zealand are quite capable of upsetting the odds
on any given day.
Fleming can do with a little discretion from McMillan,who, after
dubiously given caught behind,didn't hide his feelings and was duly
reprimanded by the match referee.
Opener Matthew Horne may have his first outing in place of Matthew
Bell while left arm opening bowler Shayne O'Connor could replace Jeoff
Allott.
Arjuna Ranatunga, the Sri Lankan captain rated New Zealand as "a very
good one-day side".
"Naturally their level of confidence is on a high now after the win
against Zimbabwe.But we are the world champions and we will play like
that," said Ranatunga.
The Lankans, with their electrifying brand of stroke-play are a huge
favourite in Bangladesh and the fans can expect a whirlwind opening
stand from Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana.Sri Lanka's
depth in the middle is awesome.Marvan Attapattu will bat at number
three followed by Aravinda de Silva and new fitness fanatic Arjuna
Ranatunga (who has by his own admission shed 10-kg weight over the
last few months).
The bowling will be bolstered by the fact that ace paceman Chaminda
Vaas has returned from a long injury lay-off. Also back in contention
is another left-armer Nuan Zoysa,regarded as the quickest among the
Sri Lankan lot. But all eyes surely would be on off-spinner Muttiah
Muralitharan,fresh from his recent heroics against England.
Sri Lanka and New Zealand both are excellent fielding sides, so
despite the world rankings, the match promises to be an absorbing one.
Teams
Sri Lanka (from): Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, Aravinda
de Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga(Captain), Roshan Mahanama, Hashan
Tillekeratne, Avishka Gunawardena, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Chaminda
Vaas, Pramodya Wickremasinghe, Kumara Dharmasena, Muttiah
Muralitharan, Upul Chandana, Nuan Zoysa.
New Zealand (from): Nathan Astle, Matthew Horne, Stephen
Fleming, Craig McMillan, Adam Parore, Chris Harris, Alex Tait, Simon
Doull, Geoff Allott, Matthew Bell, Daniel Vettori, Shayne O'Connor,
Mark Bailey, Matthew Bell.
Source :: The Bangladesh Daily Star (https://www.dailystarnews.com)