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*Official* Pakistan in Sri Lanka 2014
- Thread starter James
- Start date
viriya
International Captain
Murali has been teaching aus how to play ajmal though..
YorksLanka
International Debutant
Let's see what the kiwi batters do against Herath. Hoping that lakmal and eranga will be fit for NZ and we should hopefully do OK.depends on whether the usual ****wickets are produced tho I suppose..
hendrix
Hall of Fame Member
They're all trundlers but they're useful trundlers.
The orthodox fingerspinners that have toured recently have all been terrible. Herath is a class apart.
Maximas
Cricketer Of The Year
The attack isn't made of superstars but they work well as a group, Lakmal/Kula keeps the pressure on with tight bowling and nips out wickets using swing and seam, Eranga swings the ball conventionally and reverse style and bowls a good short ball, Prasad/Pradeep bowl faster still and look to seam the ball and bowl aggressively, it's a pretty combination that's been working all year.
From what I've seen good spinners have had some success in NZ recently, Narine and Shillingford had their moments last summer
From what I've seen good spinners have had some success in NZ recently, Narine and Shillingford had their moments last summer
Flem274*
123/5
Eranga isn't a trundler. Neither is Prasad when he has some fire in the belly.
He doesn't really *add* anything, he's just there. Isn't especially accurate, fast, bouncy or gets much swing or seam. Bowling well for him is chipping in with a couple of wickets and not getting smashed. Bowling normally for him involves averaging 50..
Narine took 6/91 on a rare turner because someone had to take the wickets. He bowled well but wasn't spectacular, despite what WW would have you believe. Shillingford took 4fer by bowling a negative ODI line while NZ hit out trying to chase a target before the rain came in Dunedin.
Herath is a very good bowler and I'm not being pessimistic about his chances because I think he's bad - finger spin just doesn't have much joy in New Zealand if the home side has a test standard batting line up. He will bowl well but this time he needs a pacer to step up and support him like Prasad did in England.
Eranga is that guy. Prasad might be. Kula can do a job with the new ball. I don't have much hope for the rest.
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Flem274*
123/5
Doesn't seem to stop New Zealand taking wickets.
Maximas
Cricketer Of The Year
You're stuck in 2012
The whole attack is that guy, that's what Vaas is working towards and that's what's been driving much of our fast bowling success this year, hell, even yesterday Welegedara was able to do the job with Herath at the other end.
hendrix
Hall of Fame Member
That's not true. He was absolutely superb against two of the best players of spin in the world. Was turning it a mile both ways with no freebies.
It was a turning wicket though.
Flem274*
123/5
And yet one of those best players tonned up.
He bowled well with no support, so what could have been 4/50 became 6/91 because I can't remember the last time Tino Best or Darren Sammy took a wicket, hence someone had to take the wickets.
Flem274*
123/5
I'm really not. He's an entirely unremarkable bowler in top form, and top form for him is taking 3 wickets for not smashed.
And Eranga is in a seperate class to the rest of your quicks. He's your main man, and arguably the most underrated seamer in the world atm.
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Maximas
Cricketer Of The Year
He's consistently been in 'top form' then, quite remarkable if you ask me, but in any case that's his job, to build pressure and nip out a few wickets, but unlike Kulasekara he can actually do it indefinately while after the 15th over Kula has nearly nothing to offer. The constant search for 'remarkable' bowlers is what kills us, with Eranga and Prasad/Pradeep we have a bit of firepower so naturally we also need someone like Lakmal to balance things out. You don't have to be Trent Boult in order to fit well into an attack, particularly when it's SL
Flem274*
123/5
Thing is you think it's genuine improvement and I think it's a purple patch.
Pradeep doesn't really count as firepower since he doesn't take wickets. He just goes to the boundary faster. If Sri Lanka want to be a good bowling side then they need to judge their fast bowling stocks by the standards of everyone else, not their own. Prasad has shown signs he's on the up and Eranga has been quality for a good two years or more now. If Eranga was from a fashionable country he would be getting talked up quite a bit. I love his full length all out swing attack attitude and he's exactly what Sri Lanka need.
Suranga Lakmal wouldn't make any top 8 side except for his own, and even then he's dubious. His best is chippy medium pace and his worst is dross Bangladesh wouldn't even pick. I still think if you want a filler seamer who can be effective when conditons favour him and keep things tight when they don't then Kula with his swing and relentless accuracy is your man.
Pradeep doesn't really count as firepower since he doesn't take wickets. He just goes to the boundary faster. If Sri Lanka want to be a good bowling side then they need to judge their fast bowling stocks by the standards of everyone else, not their own. Prasad has shown signs he's on the up and Eranga has been quality for a good two years or more now. If Eranga was from a fashionable country he would be getting talked up quite a bit. I love his full length all out swing attack attitude and he's exactly what Sri Lanka need.
Suranga Lakmal wouldn't make any top 8 side except for his own, and even then he's dubious. His best is chippy medium pace and his worst is dross Bangladesh wouldn't even pick. I still think if you want a filler seamer who can be effective when conditons favour him and keep things tight when they don't then Kula with his swing and relentless accuracy is your man.
Maximas
Cricketer Of The Year
Given that every single seamer to play for SL this year has suddenly started bowling better lines and lengths after being absolute dross at this level previous to that I'd argue there is a fairly good case for it being actual improvement rather than a purple patch. To me Lakmal = Kulasekara but he bowls faster and can get the ball to reverse swing.
If SL want a good bowling side they have to work with what they've got and face the reality that we simply don't produce many quality fast bowlers, Trent Boult's and Tim Southee's aren't somewhere in SL playing domestic cricket, guys like Lakmal who are honest, give little away and can run in all day are among the best we've got.
If SL want a good bowling side they have to work with what they've got and face the reality that we simply don't produce many quality fast bowlers, Trent Boult's and Tim Southee's aren't somewhere in SL playing domestic cricket, guys like Lakmal who are honest, give little away and can run in all day are among the best we've got.
Flem274*
123/5
Lakmal is what, 5 clicks faster? At test level no one really cares how quick you are unless you're really quick or really slow.
Sanga and Mathews (God, Mathews is going to love conditions that don't spin and he's so ****ing good against swing bowling) piling on the runs and giving Eranga and Prasad a license with Kula and Herath to keep the other end nailed down tight should be the very achievable plan. I give Sri Lanka a better chance of a win down here than most provided they select smart and the two big gun batsmen perform. Hopefully NZ have learned from the near miss against India that getting macho and preparing green tops backfires because otherwise Sanga and Mathews on a green top looks more sure than our batting and it closes the gap between the pace attacks...
Sanga and Mathews (God, Mathews is going to love conditions that don't spin and he's so ****ing good against swing bowling) piling on the runs and giving Eranga and Prasad a license with Kula and Herath to keep the other end nailed down tight should be the very achievable plan. I give Sri Lanka a better chance of a win down here than most provided they select smart and the two big gun batsmen perform. Hopefully NZ have learned from the near miss against India that getting macho and preparing green tops backfires because otherwise Sanga and Mathews on a green top looks more sure than our batting and it closes the gap between the pace attacks...
Phlegm's doing Jono's trademarked thing of thinking someone is overrated by CW so trying to balance it out with ludicrous levels of hate. Like me with Murali Vijay and Blocky with Ish Sodhi.
He's really not that bad. Worst Top 8 pace bowler around, sure, but he's passable for the role he plays. There's worse options out there, basically.
Also, how ****ing good is Chaminda Vaas at basically everything? WAFG.
He's really not that bad. Worst Top 8 pace bowler around, sure, but he's passable for the role he plays. There's worse options out there, basically.
Also, how ****ing good is Chaminda Vaas at basically everything? WAFG.
hendrix
Hall of Fame Member
Had he had support NZ probably would have lost that test. Let's not forget that Taylor and Williamson doing well is what allowed us to win. Saw off Williamson early and we were screwed.
I don't even know how much of it you watched but it was a very good spell.
NasserFan207
International Vice-Captain
Well done Mahela, true legend.