ICC World Cup 2011 Preview: Sri Lanka Vs Pakistan

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Sri Lanka are favourites going into the match against Pakistan at Colombo on Saturday, February 26.

The hosts will back themselves to win the game owing to residence benefit added to a settled team with a variety of batsmen in form.

Tharanga, Dilshan, Sangakkara and Jayawardene have all been among the runs recently, whilst Samaraweera has been exceptionally consistent on subcontinental wickets. Kapudegera while not as consistent has shown what he is capable of, particularly in T 20 games. Matthew is a genuine all-rounder, chipping in with ball and bat alike.

The bowling, though not as penetrative as it was a couple of years ago when Murali was at his prime, will thrive on knowledge of local conditions. In particular going in Sri Lanka's favour is a newly laid track that the Pakistanis haven't played on.

Pakistan have a great record at Colombo where they have registered five consecutive victories over the hosts. In truth, Pakistan's overall ODI record against Sri Lanka is impressive, with 70 wins against 46 losses in 120 games. The sides last met in June 2010 at Dambulla, a match that the hosts won.

Can the current Pakistan team trump Sri Lanka? Pakistan have a few frailties in batting, beginning with the opening slots. Though Mohammad Hafeez appears to settling into some consistency, the problem has been the absence of partnerships with one or the other opener failing in every single game.

Pakistan have opted for Shahzad at the top of the order, thereby ignoring the claims of comparatively experienced players such as Imran Farhat and Imran Nazir. The lack of experience in such a crucial position in a tournament of this size need to be cause for alarm. Speaking of the require for encounter, the exclusion of Mohd Yunus was also a puzzling omission.

There is a case for pushing Abdul Razzaq up the order to open the inning. Razzaq is too good a player to bat at quantity eight, and his elevation to an opening slot could bring a lot required aggression at the leading, so critical in the power point overs.

The Pakistan bowlers are searching excellent, and Shoaib Akhtar's return to fitness is a positive sign. Akhtar has bowled the fastest ball of the tournament so far, clocking 151 kmph, though Aussies Lee and Tait have been consistently quicker on average than their Pakistani counterpart.

Pakistan's perfect bet is to bat 1st. Chasing under the lights will turn into tougher, as the ball tends to swing a lot even more, and the likes of Perera and Kulasekara could be challenging to manage.