A grim-faced Sri Lankan World Cup squad touched down at East London airport half an hour late on Tuesday. They will oppose Zimbabwe in a vital Super Six match at Buffalo Park on Saturday.
The match is crucial for both teams as the loser will be out in the cold as the top six teams battle for the final four places — the semi-finals, scheduled for next Tuesday and Thursday at St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth and Kingsmead, Durban, respectively.
Both Australia and India have qualified, so it will be a straight fight by four teams for two places. Uppermost on the minds of the players and coach Dav Whatmore will be the hiding they sustained against a rampant India team at The Wanderers on Monday when they collapsed to be all out for 109 to lose by 183 runs.
No less than five Sri Lankan batsmen registered ducks against India. They also lost their first Super Six match to Australia by 96 runs last week. Sri Lanka have tended to rely heavily for runs on their three veterans — captain Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu and Aravinda de Silva (37) who is set to retire after the World Cup.
Their middle-order batsman, Mahele Jayawardene has been the biggest disappointment so far in the tournament. Arriving in South Africa with a big reputation, he has failed to reach double figures in six innings so far, and has scored but 16 runs at an average of 2,66, with two ducks and two singles to his name.
This must be a huge source of worry to coach Whatmore and the team. The Sri Lankans will hold a practrice session in the Buffalo Park nets on Wednesday after lunch. A big crowd is expected to attend the match with over 10 000 tickets having been sold. – Sapa