Lankan Strategy Backfires

[King]

Bottom line SL played rubbish cricket. Their bowlers were wanting so was their top order. Dilshan and Tharanga were lucky to survive as long as they did. They completely looked out of depth to me. They were swinging their bats at everything and once in a while they connected. They missed more than they connected. SL batting doesn't convince me a bit. Mahela is their top player and if he comes off SL will thrive. SL's bowling without Malinga looks just ordinary. Murali will lend a lone hand every time, he's a great bowler for a reason. Otherwise SL just doesn't inspire me. On the other hand Pakistan looked absolutely assured when they batted. They knew what they were expecting from their top order and the middle order pretty much knew their job as well. Pakistan should have left the batting power play open till 45th but otherwise they played immaculate cricket with the bat. Misbah and Younis batted very well. They picked singles often and made sure they were at least keeping the score board ticking. SL lost the plot. The result had nothing to do with the toss, Pakistan were a better team and they looked like they had prepared very well. They batted out Murali without taking much risk, they knew what total they wanted on the board and very confident of defending it. Sanga's post match interview is the placebo effect that most top teams practice. Go out feeling extremely positive, post game leave out the negatives and focus on the positives of the game. Come next day work on improving on the negatives from the game.

[Desi Cartman]

sanga was like a headless chook. It was funny as well sad to see him ask for review without even asking the bowler. I think his ego and confusion will sink the lankan ship.

[Ultimate_Game]

ICC should revisit scheduling day-night games at venues where toss plays a crucial role. At Colombo team chasing under lights have only won TWICE out of 19 times!!! That's way too skewed in favor of team batting first and there's a lot riding on the toss. The scary thing is one of the semi-final will be played at the same venue and it's a day-nighter as well. I guess whoever wins the toss gets to play the final :smiley: Other venues where toss plays a crucial role are Cape Town and most of SA venues while chasing - the ball swings and seams a lot under lights there. Dambulla in SL is another venue where anything over 200 is a nightmare to chase as the ball does all sorts of things under light. IMO for an important tourney like world cup I am all for matches starting at 11 Am or so and finishing around 6 pm or so. That way early morning moisture wouldn't play a role for the team batting first and the chasing team will not be affected too much by chasing under the lights. Agreed it's not the best solution but seems the most fair one especially for a tourney like World Cup which comes every 4 years.