rapa
03-29-2007, 10:56 PM
Proteas opened their super 8 account with a win against Sri Lanka, and currently positioned at 5th position in the Super 8 points table. Sri Lanka, still enjoys number 2 position behind Australia.
Yesterday's match was a must win for South Africa, to get the winning momentum back. Now the same pressure apply to Sri Lanka when they meet the home boys West Indies, on Sunday.
Electing to bat?
Mahela's captaincy record shows he elect to bat first 90% of the time when he win the toss. Complete opposite of Arjuna. But both had been successful in their decision, in most of the matches.
Yesterday, the pitch report previewed it will help the bowlers earlier on. Mahela would have elected to bat first, thinking that our batsmen can survive the first few hours and put a decent score on the board. And later to defend that total with supposedly spin friendly wicket.
But, I thought it would have better if we put South Africa in. Our spin attack have the chances of getting them out, only if they go out to play big strikes.
So, we would have used the morning conditions with Vass to pick few early wickets, and get Proteas into panic (Because they don't know how many runs they have to score) with Murali 9who could turn the ball in any surface, whether it support spin balling or not)and Sanath.
Later, we would have chase the target easier (Because we know how many runs to score exactly).
South Africans won't have the "morning advantage" for their fast bowlers, and Sri Lanka is a better side playing spin bowlers, even if the pitch start to support spin bowlers later on.
How ever that's what I felt about the toss.
Sanath Need to Convert 20's to Big One's Very Soon
Jayasuriya got this bad habit of getting into 20's pretty quickly and then getting out. We had a big one from him already against B'desh. Literally he only failed in the match against India. In other 2 matches (Bermuda, SA) he got into 20's very quickly, with confidence but failed to carry on. He has to correct this very soon. This is going to be his last WC, and Sri Lanka expect more than 20 runs in 8 balls or so.
Captain's form
It's now a great concern that Mahela's not getting his rythem. As the captain, he got to play more intelligently if we are to survive in the last 4 of the tournament.
Turning Point
For me, it's the last 8 balls of Sri Lankan batting innings. We were very much on target for a total around 230, to 235. But the low order got into panic, and were 209 all out all of a sudden, after being 208 for 5. It was a disaster.
If we put a total above 230 on the board, the result would have been totally different even if Malinga couldn't perform that magic spell.
In my match summery for India Vs Sri Lanka match, I talked about the fighting spirit. We haven't seen that same spirit from the lower order batsmen yesterday. Of course on the field, the bowlers had that spirit. But, slowly we saw that start to die, until Malinga came and lift up the Sri Lankan hopes once again.
Sharp Chances
There were quite a few sharp (difficult) chances denied by Sri Lankans on the field. Mahela dropped a slip catch, Chamara Silva mis judged a straight forward catch, Malinga missed the stumps couple of times. But, if you are determinant to win a World Cup you got to take sharp chances to your favor.
Next Outing On Sunday
Our next outing is against West Indies, on Sunday at the same venue. It's a very important match for Sri Lanka. If we lose it, we will have to win all the rest of the matches to qualify for the semi finals. It will create unnecessary pressure in the matches against Australia and New Zealand.
And the result of West Indies Vs New Zealand Match scheduled for today is also important for us. Windies and us are already one down in the Super 8 stage. If Windies win today, we have to beat them on Sunday, to save our position on Super 8 points table.
Yesterday's match was a must win for South Africa, to get the winning momentum back. Now the same pressure apply to Sri Lanka when they meet the home boys West Indies, on Sunday.
Electing to bat?
Mahela's captaincy record shows he elect to bat first 90% of the time when he win the toss. Complete opposite of Arjuna. But both had been successful in their decision, in most of the matches.
Yesterday, the pitch report previewed it will help the bowlers earlier on. Mahela would have elected to bat first, thinking that our batsmen can survive the first few hours and put a decent score on the board. And later to defend that total with supposedly spin friendly wicket.
But, I thought it would have better if we put South Africa in. Our spin attack have the chances of getting them out, only if they go out to play big strikes.
So, we would have used the morning conditions with Vass to pick few early wickets, and get Proteas into panic (Because they don't know how many runs they have to score) with Murali 9who could turn the ball in any surface, whether it support spin balling or not)and Sanath.
Later, we would have chase the target easier (Because we know how many runs to score exactly).
South Africans won't have the "morning advantage" for their fast bowlers, and Sri Lanka is a better side playing spin bowlers, even if the pitch start to support spin bowlers later on.
How ever that's what I felt about the toss.
Sanath Need to Convert 20's to Big One's Very Soon
Jayasuriya got this bad habit of getting into 20's pretty quickly and then getting out. We had a big one from him already against B'desh. Literally he only failed in the match against India. In other 2 matches (Bermuda, SA) he got into 20's very quickly, with confidence but failed to carry on. He has to correct this very soon. This is going to be his last WC, and Sri Lanka expect more than 20 runs in 8 balls or so.
Captain's form
It's now a great concern that Mahela's not getting his rythem. As the captain, he got to play more intelligently if we are to survive in the last 4 of the tournament.
Turning Point
For me, it's the last 8 balls of Sri Lankan batting innings. We were very much on target for a total around 230, to 235. But the low order got into panic, and were 209 all out all of a sudden, after being 208 for 5. It was a disaster.
If we put a total above 230 on the board, the result would have been totally different even if Malinga couldn't perform that magic spell.
In my match summery for India Vs Sri Lanka match, I talked about the fighting spirit. We haven't seen that same spirit from the lower order batsmen yesterday. Of course on the field, the bowlers had that spirit. But, slowly we saw that start to die, until Malinga came and lift up the Sri Lankan hopes once again.
Sharp Chances
There were quite a few sharp (difficult) chances denied by Sri Lankans on the field. Mahela dropped a slip catch, Chamara Silva mis judged a straight forward catch, Malinga missed the stumps couple of times. But, if you are determinant to win a World Cup you got to take sharp chances to your favor.
Next Outing On Sunday
Our next outing is against West Indies, on Sunday at the same venue. It's a very important match for Sri Lanka. If we lose it, we will have to win all the rest of the matches to qualify for the semi finals. It will create unnecessary pressure in the matches against Australia and New Zealand.
And the result of West Indies Vs New Zealand Match scheduled for today is also important for us. Windies and us are already one down in the Super 8 stage. If Windies win today, we have to beat them on Sunday, to save our position on Super 8 points table.