26 October 1998
Confident Kiwis take on Sri Lanka today
The Daily News
Sri Lanka will make their appearance when they meet New Zealand today
in the Wills International Cup limited over tournament at the
Bangghabandu Stadium.
The Kiwis are extremely confident after their five wicket win over
Zimbabwe on Saturday but Sri Lanka are determined and equally
confident with the recent performance in England.
Sri Lanka will most probably leave out Hashan Tillekeratne, Avishka
Gunawardena and Pramodya Wickremasinghe from their final selection.
Roshan Mahanama making his comeback will bat at number 6 followed by
Kumara Dharmasena and the rest.
The Sri Lanka Manger Ranjith Fernando said that it will be a close
contest and the side that plays best should win. The Sri Lankans have
laid more emphasis on fielding which is the vital aspect in the
shorter version of the game.
"Conditions should suit us, in the first game against New Zealand and
Zimbabwe the pitch was new and a good one, the match between England
and South Africa is being played on the adjoining pitch. Either
pitches will be a bit worn out and should help the spinners", said
Fernando.
Nuwan Soysa with Chaminda Vaas will form an all left arm opening
attack. They will also have the services of three ideal spin bowlers
for the condition, Muralitharan, Upul Chandana and Sanath Jayasuriya.
New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said that Sri Lanka is a world
class team, in fact they are world champions.
"They have a tough batting line up with a lot of depth with some good
bowlers. The last Saturday's win against Zimbabwe have given us
confidence ahead of the match against the Lankans. But I am not
particularly happy the way our bowlers performed", said Fleming.
Teams
Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya, Romesh Kaluvitharana, Marvan
Atapattu, Aravinda de Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga (Captain), Roshan
Mahanama, Kumara Dharmasena, Chaminda Vaas, Upul Chandana, Muthiah
Muralitharan, Nuwan Soysa.
New Zealand: Nathan Astel, Mark Baily, Stephen Fleming,
(Captain), Craig Mchillan, Adam Parore, Alex Tait, Chris Harris, Geoff
Allott, Daniel Vettori, Simon Doul, Mathew Bell.
Umpires: David Shephered and Peter Willey (England).
Match Referee: Raman Suba Row (England).
Third Umpire: Srinivas Venkataraghavan (India)
Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)