da casino： Sri Lanka will also be helped by the fact that West Indies’ campaign hasgone from brimful-of-promise to laced-with-intrigue in the space of aweek
da marjack bet： Dileep Premachandran in Guyana31-Mar-2007
Unlike their last match the Sri Lankans would want their top-order to fire © Getty Images
The last time these two teams met, the match lasted only slightly longerthan . It may have been aninconsequential qualifying game, with both sides assured of a place in theChampions Trophy, but West Indies were utterly humiliated on a livelyBrabourne Stadium pitch. Farveez Maharoof was the bowling star that daywith 6 for 14, and Sri Lanka waltzed past the target of 81 in just 13.2overs.Tom Moody, who oversaw that demolition job as coach, certainly isn’treading too much into the result. “We will take nothing out of that match,considering these are completely different conditions and situations,” hesaid. “The only advantage we will take is a psychological one.”His wards will also be helped by the fact that West Indies’ campaign hasgone from brimful-of-promise to laced-with-intrigue in the space of aweek. Demoralising defeats to Australia and New Zealand have left them ina situation where defeat on Sunday could conceivably mean the end of theroad.”I’m not sure what the morale is like in the West Indies camp but if it isdown, we’ll try to take advantage of it,” said Moody. “They have come offtwo losses, so this is a big game for them. But it’s equally as big forus. We’re going in there all guns blazing, hoping to play our A game toget two points on the board in this stage of the competition.There’s certainly a healthy respect for a team that Sri Lanka have beatenonly once in five World Cup matches dating back to 1975. “The West Indiesare a very good side with lots of proven match-winners,” said Moody.”They’ve shown that they’re a side that can win competitions and beat bigteams in tournaments. Given that they’re under pressure, this is the timethey will probably come up and play their best games. So, we’ve got tomake sure we’re on our guard.”On a pitch that was expected to favour them, Sri Lanka were largelyoutplayed by South Africa, and Moody admitted that poor top-order battinghad undermined his team’s chances. At the same time, he was certain thatthe decision to bat first had been the right one.”We felt this wicket was going to get slower and lower, and turn,” hesaid. “It suits our bowlers in the middle of the innings. Butunfortunately, through some good play by Kallis and Smith, they took theinitiative in the first 20 overs. We didn’t have enough runs really todefend, and for our spinners to have an impact.”The batting debacle started at the top, with Mahela Jayawardene’s wretchedrun continuing against Charl Langeveldt. “Mahela has been digging deep forsome runs,” said Moody. “Now is a good time for your top order to bepeaking and there could be nothing better than the captain to lead fromthe front. He’s a very fine player and hopefully he’ll play thatmatch-winning knock against West Indies.”That Sri Lanka even made a match of it against South Africa was down to a98-run partnership between Tillakaratne Dilshan and Russel Arnold, afterdisciplined bowling and some inspired fielding had reduced them to 98 for5.”We know that we really only competed in about 30 per cent of the game,”said Moody. “It was only a brilliant spell of four balls that made it looka lot closer than it was. We know that we didn’t bat as well as we couldhave upfront.”Those four wickets came from Lasith Malinga, whose slinging action andvariations in pace were almost too much for South Africa’s lower order.But even there, Moody was of the opinion that there was much room forimprovement. “A bowler like Malinga, you’ve just got to let him go,” hesaid. “He’s a match-winner. If you look at it realistically, he bowledpoorly for six overs in that match, but came back and bowled well forthree.”We’re working on those six overs now and bottling the confidence of thethree overs he bowled well at the end. He knows he was far from having acomplete match as a bowler.”As for what sets Malinga apart from others, Moody just smiled and said,”Everything”. “He has a very unique action, a unique hairstyle [laughs]and he’s unique in that he bowls at 90 miles an hour and is about 5ft,7in. He’s just one of these unique bowlers that tend to crop up in theworld of sport. We tend to get a few in Sri Lanka.”This guy is a little bit different. He has come through the system ofplaying tennis-ball cricket, and hence his exaggerated lower-arm action.Thankfully, in the process of him going to the international level peoplehaven’t mucked about too much with his action. They have left him to be asnatural a possible. He’s reaping the benefits and so is the team.”Moody brushed aside suggestions that Sri Lanka may have peaked too early -“Australia have peaked for about 15 years, haven’t they?” he said with alaugh – and was unconcerned by the fact that there might be a full houseat the new stadium in Providence to cheer on West Indies.”I’m sure there’s going to be a rally of support for the West Indies, butthe crowd can’t go out there and score runs or take wickets,” he said. “Atthe end of the day, we’ll just be concentrating on making sure that we getour processes right and play the cricket that we know we can play.”If they do, the hometown dream could well be a nightmare by Sunday evening.
