The first semi-final of the World Cup is expected to follow a similar storyline, with hosts Sri Lanka undoubtedly the favourites to attack New Zealand at their stronghold, the R Premadasa Stadium on Tuesday. The biggest, and perhaps only, problem for Sri Lanka is likely to be the quad strain that Muttiah Muralitharan picked up in the quarter-final victory over England. Skipper Kumar Sangakkara told reporters that the problem is dissimilar to the one Murali had in Mumbai when the teams last met in the group stages, and that every attempt would be made to ensure his contribution.
"I think Murali and everyone around him are trying to get him as fit as possible and ready to play. It is no use thinking of keeping him for the final because this is the crunch game. And if he can play on Wednesday, that'll be great for us. If he can't, we have enough cover," Sangakkara said. But one can't really be expecting to cover for Murali's guiles and the fear he induces in opposition batsmen. It was Murali who had starred in Mumbai, taking four wickets after Sangakkara had rescued his team from a tight spot with a dazzling century.
This is the second consecutive World Cup where the two teams are facing each other at this stage, and obviously the memories for Sri Lanka are sweeter. Riding on the back of then-skipper Mahela Jayawardene's unbeaten century, Sri Lanka beat the Stephen Fleming-led Kiwis by 81 runs at Sabina Park, Jamaica. Eight of the Sri Lankans who shaped the playing XI in that match are part of this squad, while for the Kiwis, seven members have survived. It is difficult not to take the Kiwis lightly, given their stop start battle so far in the World Cup and the one part of their game that has struggled for any form of consistency - the batting.
On paper, a line-up that reads Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor, and that has Daniel Vettori coming in as low as number nine could be likely to fire with unerring reliability. But as their group matches against Australia and Sri Lanka proved, they are anything but reliable, with the frailties in method and struggles against spin being mainly to blame. Their bowling is their stronger suit, with Tim Southee leading the attack well and the usual suspects like Jacob Oram, Vettori and Nathan McCullum being constant threats on the slow and low wickets here.
Sri Lanka vs New Zealand:
ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 - Records
ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 - Photos
"I think Murali and everyone around him are trying to get him as fit as possible and ready to play. It is no use thinking of keeping him for the final because this is the crunch game. And if he can play on Wednesday, that'll be great for us. If he can't, we have enough cover," Sangakkara said. But one can't really be expecting to cover for Murali's guiles and the fear he induces in opposition batsmen. It was Murali who had starred in Mumbai, taking four wickets after Sangakkara had rescued his team from a tight spot with a dazzling century.
This is the second consecutive World Cup where the two teams are facing each other at this stage, and obviously the memories for Sri Lanka are sweeter. Riding on the back of then-skipper Mahela Jayawardene's unbeaten century, Sri Lanka beat the Stephen Fleming-led Kiwis by 81 runs at Sabina Park, Jamaica. Eight of the Sri Lankans who shaped the playing XI in that match are part of this squad, while for the Kiwis, seven members have survived. It is difficult not to take the Kiwis lightly, given their stop start battle so far in the World Cup and the one part of their game that has struggled for any form of consistency - the batting.
On paper, a line-up that reads Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor, and that has Daniel Vettori coming in as low as number nine could be likely to fire with unerring reliability. But as their group matches against Australia and Sri Lanka proved, they are anything but reliable, with the frailties in method and struggles against spin being mainly to blame. Their bowling is their stronger suit, with Tim Southee leading the attack well and the usual suspects like Jacob Oram, Vettori and Nathan McCullum being constant threats on the slow and low wickets here.
Sri Lanka vs New Zealand:
| | Matches | Won by SL | Won by NZ | Tied | NR |
| Overall | 73 | 33 | 35 | 1 | 4 |
| At World Cup | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 - Records
ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 - Photos
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