Sri Lanka Thread

[MoxPearl]

It’s a tight call on the Lankan decision – but one clear outcome is that its def. got under the Aussies skin….their players (listen to Symonds post match interview) and ex players (Ian Chappell, Ian Heally, O’Donnell), and public etc are pretty cheesed off and hopping mad as their victory is hollow and they have learnt nothing….so, in the mind games stakes SL 1, Aus 0.

This could end up as a brilliant tactical move, but first we have to win the semi and get to the final. Otherwise, the team will take a pounding for this decision.

Overall, the situation that has evolved could be summed up in the plus and minus points below:

+ve points

1. We have played with the Aus mindset and won this one hands down, as Aus are still not sure of the value of their win.
2. Malinga and Murali (and even Vaas) are still unknown factors in these conditions to the Aussies
3. We take on NZ (who we beat in S8), rather than RSA who we lost to in S8
4. SL top order is still suspect, but the rest took Tait, Macgrath and Clarke/Symonds (60% of Aus attack) for plenty of runs.
5. Mahela and Chamara batted themselves into form against Aus attack and almost took the game away (167/3 looked so good from 27/3)…Even Maharoof can take something from his knock
6. The Aussies bats cannot take anything away as they have not faced the real SL attack
7. Murali & Vass get a rest
8. We have lost, but still won!


-ve Points
1. Aussies are cheesed off for being tactically out-classed and may use this as motivation in final
2. Bowling out Aus cheaply with Malinga, Murali & Vass would have given a confidence boost
3. If we won, we could have played at St Lucia’s which suits us better than Sabina Park
4. We missed an opp to carry the psycological advantage against the Aussies going into the final


Given the impact on this surprise tactic by the Lankans, I would not be surprised if NZ follow suit on Fri against Aus and rest some key players.

errrrrrrrrrr

 

[jude_aus]

So is the current Sri Lankan team any good?

I Think we should play Atapattu instead of Upul Tharanga. then our team is well balanced. Don’t understand why they haven’t dropped Tharanga yet. His strick rate in this world cup matches so far is been very slow and his less confidence when it comes to play against better teams.

 

[jude_aus]

"Selectors should play Atapattu instead of Tharanga"

A player who has played 268 matches should be on the ground playing, not on the bench.

I have been watching all the Sri Lankan matches so far and it’s clear that Tharanga is not comfortable against big teams at all. His strike rate is very slow compare to other openers in the world. Being a slow opener, put lot of pressure on his team-mates.

Why not play Maven Atapattu as an opener with Jayasuriya instead of Tharanga. Atapattu has the experience and he is a better player than Tharanga. In the field, they are not much deferent from each other (Both slow in the field and don’t ball).

May be selectors should give Atapattu a go against Ireland and prepare him for the semis. We will have a better chance of wining the world cup with the following line up.

Marvan Atapattu
Sanath Jayasuriya
Kumar Sangakkara
Mahela Jayawardene
Chamara Silva
Thillakaratne Dilshan
Rassel Arnold
Chaminda Vass
Lasith Malinga
Dilhara Fernando
Muttiah Muralitharan

 

[chaminda_00]

Tharanga scores faster then Atapattu, really his done nothing wrong to get dropped. People seem to forgot pretty quickly how slow Atapattu scored at times.

 

[The_Bunny]

It’s a tight call on the Lankan decision – but one clear outcome is that its def. got under the Aussies skin….their players (listen to Symonds post match interview) and ex players (Ian Chappell, Ian Heally, O’Donnell), and public etc are pretty cheesed off and hopping mad as their victory is hollow and they have learnt nothing….so, in the mind games stakes SL 1, Aus 0.

This could end up as a brilliant tactical move, but first we have to win the semi and get to the final. Otherwise, the team will take a pounding for this decision.

Overall, the situation that has evolved could be summed up in the plus and minus points below:

+ve points

1. We have played with the Aus mindset and won this one hands down, as Aus are still not sure of the value of their win.
2. Malinga and Murali (and even Vaas) are still unknown factors in these conditions to the Aussies
3. We take on NZ (who we beat in S8), rather than RSA who we lost to in S8
4. SL top order is still suspect, but the rest took Tait, Macgrath and Clarke/Symonds (60% of Aus attack) for plenty of runs.
5. Mahela and Chamara batted themselves into form against Aus attack and almost took the game away (167/3 looked so good from 27/3)…Even Maharoof can take something from his knock
6. The Aussies bats cannot take anything away as they have not faced the real SL attack
7. Murali & Vass get a rest
8. We have lost, but still won!


-ve Points
1. Aussies are cheesed off for being tactically out-classed and may use this as motivation in final
2. Bowling out Aus cheaply with Malinga, Murali & Vass would have given a confidence boost
3. If we won, we could have played at St Lucia’s which suits us better than Sabina Park
4. We missed an opp to carry the psycological advantage against the Aussies going into the final


Given the impact on this surprise tactic by the Lankans, I would not be surprised if NZ follow suit on Fri against Aus and rest some key players.

The Batting let them down.....
Not sure how much Murli and Vass would have affected that

 

[JBH001]

I'm still struggling to understand the decision to rest Murali and Vaas.
But then I thought, quite simply SL did not want to win because it would put too much pressure on them going into the rest of the tournament.

SL have been talked up as the only viable threat to Australia, and defeating them (on a helpful surface) would have lent credence to that. However, that might have derailed SL's worldcup preparations as I do not think they are a team that like to have top billing.

If this was indeed the major reason (carry on planning and preparation in a low key manner) then I can understand it, and daresay, it makes sense too.

 

[JASON]

SL really needs to put the Australia game behind and move on. Tonight (my time) against Ireland, they really need to put up a classy performance to show they are back on track.

Otherwise their World Cup may be getting derailed from hereon.

SL's batting failed to use the opportunity against Australia. True Sanath J and Sangakkara were given harsh LBW decisions by Doctorve and Rauff , decisions which would certainly not have been given against Australian batsmen.

But that aside SL has struggled to go past 230 against quality bowling attacks at this World Cup. IMO Atapattu should play against Ireland just to get him into some form as well as to cover for potential injuries. The decision may well have to be made in the coming games to bring him into SL team if the batting continues to flop and fail to post challegimg scores.

A big knock from Sangakkara is due , as he has unfortunately been in some average form and then after getting in among the runs after a long time in the middle against NZ, he had the rough LBW decision against Australia.

Dilshan has failed to go past 20's and 30s and he and Arnold have, IMO , failed to give SL innings the ipetus it needs in the slog overs . (mere 30's and 40 at modest strike rates are not good during the slog overs).

It will be SL's batting that lets SL down in the coming crucial games (as it has in the previous games) not the bowling .

 

[JASON]

I would pick for tonights game -

Tharanga
Sanath J
Atapattu
Sangakkara
Mahela
Dilshan
Arnold
Vaas
Malinga
Dilhara
Murali

 

[StumpMic]

I would pick for tonights game -

Tharanga
Sanath J
Atapattu
Sangakkara
Mahela
Dilshan
Arnold
Vaas
Malinga
Dilhara
Murali

I think a better selection for today's match would be to replace tharanga with Atapattu. But only for today's match. This way you bring some pressure on Tharanga to perform. I think its wrong to replace Chamara Silva with Attapattu. Silva has already scored 4 50s in this WC including the one in the last match so kicking him out now would send the wrong signals and may even be de-moralising.

 

[Prince EWS]

I would pick for tonights game -

Tharanga
Sanath J
Atapattu
Sangakkara
Mahela
Dilshan
Arnold
Vaas
Malinga
Dilhara
Murali

Why drop Silva? Or are you just "resting" him?

 

[chaminda_00]

I presume he just been rested, i expected Jayasuriya to be rested for Atapattu myself.

 

[JASON]

Why drop Silva? Or are you just "resting" him?

Only to rest him and play Atapattu instead. Because Arnold is too sacred and you cannot even consider leaving him ... there will be a massive fanfare and ruckus if that happens..God knows why.. And the same with some of the others.

With Chamara Silva atleast you can say he is being rested .

The others also need to get some runs.

 

[Prince EWS]

Only to rest him and play Atapattu instead. Because Arnold is too sacred and you cannot even consider leaving him ... there will be a massive fanfare and ruckus if that happens..God knows why.. And the same with some of the others.

With Chamara Silva atleast you can say he is being rested .

The others also need to get some runs.

Why the extreme need to play Atapattu though? Couldn't you just leave him out?

 

[Perm]

Why the extreme need to play Atapattu though? Couldn't you just leave him out?

Exactly, it's not like there is a great need to replace any members of the Sri Lankan lineup at the moment. Atapattu is a good player, but not good enough that he demands selection just on past merits.

 

[pasag]

SL really needs to put the Australia game behind and move on. Tonight (my time) against Ireland, they really need to put up a classy performance to show they are back on track.

Otherwise their World Cup may be getting derailed from hereon.

SL's batting failed to use the opportunity against Australia. True Sanath J and Sangakkara were given harsh LBW decisions by Doctorve and Rauff decisions which would certainly not have been given against Australian batsmen.

But that aside SL has struggled to go past 230 against quality bowling attacks at this World Cup. IMO Atapattu should play against Ireland just to get him into some form as well as to cover for potential injuries. The decision may well have to be made in the coming games to bring him into SL team if the batting continues to flop and fail to post challegimg scores.

A big knock from Sangakkara is due , as he has unfortunately been in some average form and then after getting in among the runs after a long time in the middle against NZ, he had the rough LBW decision against Australia.

Dilshan has failed to go past 20's and 30s and he and Arnold have, IMO , failed to give SL innings the ipetus it needs in the slog overs . (mere 30's and 40 at modest strike rates are not good during the slog overs).

It will be SL's batting that lets SL down in the coming crucial games (as it has in the previous games) not the bowling .

You wont see this often but.....

 

[shehanwije]

SL really needs to put the Australia game behind and move on. Tonight (my time) against Ireland, they really need to put up a classy performance to show they are back on track.

Otherwise their World Cup may be getting derailed from hereon.

SL's batting failed to use the opportunity against Australia. True Sanath J and Sangakkara were given harsh LBW decisions by Doctorve and Rauff , decisions which would certainly not have been given against Australian batsmen.

But that aside SL has struggled to go past 230 against quality bowling attacks at this World Cup. IMO Atapattu should play against Ireland just to get him into some form as well as to cover for potential injuries. The decision may well have to be made in the coming games to bring him into SL team if the batting continues to flop and fail to post challegimg scores.

A big knock from Sangakkara is due , as he has unfortunately been in some average form and then after getting in among the runs after a long time in the middle against NZ, he had the rough LBW decision against Australia.

Dilshan has failed to go past 20's and 30s and he and Arnold have, IMO , failed to give SL innings the ipetus it needs in the slog overs . (mere 30's and 40 at modest strike rates are not good during the slog overs).

It will be SL's batting that lets SL down in the coming crucial games (as it has in the previous games) not the bowling .

You are right....the top order has to fire as a unit. Each batsman in the top 5 has got at least 2 fifties so far, but the only centuries have been from Sanath (2). The top 5 have to stand up and be counted when it matters most - against the new ball, and in the must win semis (and finals). I believe the Lankan bats can do it.

 

[andyc]

You wont see this often but.....

Haha agreed (well partially). Jayasuriya's was absolutely plumb, but Sangakkara's did look to be going over the top at first look (to me at least), something which Hawkeye backed up.

 

[JASON]

Haha agreed (well partially). Jayasuriya's was absolutely plumb, but Sangakkara's did look to be going over the top at first look (to me at least), something which Hawkeye backed up.

Let's see how many LBWs get given against the Aussie top order during Australia's last 3 crucial games shall we ?

 

[JASON]

Exactly, it's not like there is a great need to replace any members of the Sri Lankan lineup at the moment. Atapattu is a good player, but not good enough that he demands selection just on past merits.

Tharanga's batting debacle deems it now an absolute necessity to play Atapattu ...and sooner the better it seems.

SL selectors continuing non selection of Atapattu particularly for a game against Ireland, where some useful batting practice under genuine conditions could've been used has been failed to be utilised.

The SL selectors will be held accountable and questions will be asked if things turn to custard (with regard to SL batting and their continued failure to post good challenging targets) in the next crucial game.

 

[Davey]

What are you basing this on?

at least Tharanga has the ability to play a little risky and get the necessary runs on the board if he has to, we have seen this especially in his tours of England. Can Atapattu do this? i dunno to me he seems like the absolute ideal player suited to SL's test team (of course hes already in it isnt he) where you dont have to be concerned about the run rate etc.

And also teh fact that he hasnt been playing makes it even worse...