ICC World Cup 2011 Preview: Sri Lanka Vs Pakistan

>

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 advantage added to a settled team with various batsmen in form.

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

The bowling, while not as penetrative as it was a few years ago when Murali was at his prime, will thrive on expertise of local conditions. Specially 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 reality, 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. When Mohammad Hafeez appears to settling into some consistency, the predicament has been the absence of partnerships with one or the other opener failing in just about every game.

Pakistan have opted for Shahzad at the leading of the order, thereby ignoring the claims of fairly experienced players such as Imran Farhat and Imran Nazir. The lack of expertise in such a essential position in a tournament of this size really should be trigger for alarm. Speaking of the require for expertise, 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 excellent a player to bat at quantity eight, and his elevation to an opening slot could bring a great deal needed aggression at the best, so critical in the power point overs.

The Pakistan bowlers are searching wonderful, 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 faster on typical than their Pakistani counterpart.

Pakistan's ideal bet is to bat first. Chasing under the lights will turn into tougher, as the ball tends to swing a lot extra, and the likes of Perera and Kulasekara could be tough to handle.