The first semi-final at the 2011 Cricket World Cup takes place on Tuesday, with Sri Lanka favoured to defeat New Zealand to claim a spot in the tournament decider.
Sri Lanka and New Zealand were grouped together in the early stage of the tournament, with the former finishing second in the group, with the Black Caps down in fourth.
Sri Lanka won the group clash between the pair – in their final group clash – by 112 runs, with New Zealand’s batting order collapsing with Muttiah Muralitharan picking up 4/25 after Kumar Sangakkara’s fantastic century.
But New Zealand, who seem to love winning when the odds are stacked against them, will be buoyed by their quarter-final victory over South Africa and will know Tuesday is a whole new ball game.
Interestingly, between these two nations, who are hardly recognised a cricketing superpowers, they’ve managed to reach the semi-finals seven times since 1996. In fact this is Sri Lanka’s third consecutive World Cup semi-final and we shouldn’t forget they won this tournament on home soil in 1996.
So the question is, who can claim a place in 2011 final?
*Sri Lanka’ Group performance2nd in Group A, 4 wins, 1 loss, 1 no result*Group Results’
Sri Lanka 332/7, Canada 122, Sri Lanka won by 210 runs Pakistan 277/7, Sri Lanka 266/9, Pakistan won by 11 runs Kenya 142, Sri Lanka 146/1, Sri Lanka won by 9 wickets Sri Lanka 146/3, Australia DNB, match abandoned, no result Sri Lanka 327/6, Zimbabwe 188, Sri Lanka won by 139 runs Sri Lanka 265/9, New Zealand 153, Sri Lanka won by 112 runs
Quarter Final England 229/6, Sri Lanka 231/0, Sri Lanka won by 10 wickets Sri Lanka cruised past England, after restricting their opponents to just 229 from 50 overs with a combination of slow bowlers and the dangerous Lasith Malinga at the death. Nobody expected Sri Lanka to ease to victory like they did with the bat but Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga have been in good form and worked hard for their centuries in a 10-wicket win.
Statistics Most runs; Tillakaratne Dilshan (394), Kumar Sangakkara (363), Upul Tharanga (363) Best batting average; Kumar Sangakkara (121), Upul Tharanga (72.6), Tillakaratne Dilshan (65.67) Most wickets; Muttiah Muralitharan (13), Lasith Malinga (8), Thisara Perera & Angelo Mathews (6)
The Good Sri Lanka’s top-order remains their strong suit with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga doing a great job opening the batting, before in-form skipper Kumar Sangakkara comes in at first drop.
Sangakkara scored 111 against New Zealand in the group stage and at an average of 90.75, he’ll feel confident for the semi-final against the Black Caps. Mahela Jayawardene hasn’t hit his straps but is still looking good with a tournament average of 40.
The Bad Sri Lanka’s middle order appears to be their weakness, as they seem to be fragile, but perhaps that’s due to the fact they’ve had limited time and opportunities to score runs this tournament as the top four have done the job. But there are question marks over Chamara Silva, Thilan Samaraweera and Angelo Mathews who are all yet to post fifties this tournament.
Sri Lanka’s bowling attack has flattered to deceive at times, with wicket-taking an issue. Lasith Malinga can be erratic, while behind Muralitharan the selectors don’t appear certain on their best bowling line-up. To make matters worse, Sri Lanka are now sweating on Muralitharan’s fitness as he struggles with a leg injury.
The Captain On Muralitharan’s injury, Sangakkara said: “Murali and everyone around him is trying to get him as fit as possible and fit enough to play. It’s no use thinking about the final and saving him for other games, this is the crunch game and if he can play tomorrow that’ll be great for us, but if that doesn’t work out, we’ve got enough cover to make sure that we are still a solid winning side.”
On the make-up of his bowling attack, Sangakkara said: “We have to consider other options as well. We have fast bowlers, especially Nuwan Kulasekara, who has done exceptionally well against New Zealand. So we got to make sure we play the right combination.”
After a 10-wicket win over England, Sangakkara said he wanted to make sure there was no complacency in the camp. “There’s no chance of that happening in anyone’s mind. You understand the gravity of the situation, you understand the challenge that’s going to come your way, you got to accept it and you got to enjoy it.”
He added: “In the light of (the England win) tomorrow is a new game for us. It’s nothing to do with England, we are starting from square one and we want to make sure that we understand that.”
*New Zealand’ Group performance4th in Group A, 4 wins, 2 losses*Group Results’
Kenya 69, New Zealand 72/0, New Zealand won by 10 wickets New Zealand 206, Australia 3/207, Australia won by 7 wickets Zimbabwe 162, New Zealand 166/0, New Zealand won by 10 wickets New Zealand 302/7, Pakistan 192, New Zealand won by 110 runs New Zealand 358/6, Canada 261/9, New Zealand won by 97 runs Sri Lanka 265/9, New Zealand 153, Sri Lanka won by 112 runs
Quarter Final New Zealand 221/8, South Africa 172, New Zealand won by 49 runs The Black Caps set South Africa a below par score of 221 with Jesse Ryder scoring 83, but New Zealand’s fielding led the way as the Proteas fell short. Jacob Oram’s brilliant catch to dismiss Jacques Kallis helped while he also picked up 4/39, with Nathan McCullum grabbing three wickets.
Statistics Most runs; Ross Taylor (288), Brendon McCullum (243), Martin Guptill (223) Best batting average; Ross Taylor (72), Brendon McCullum (48.6), Martin Guptill (44.6) Most wickets; Tim Southee (15), Jacob Oram (12), Hamish Bennett & Kyle Mills (6)
The Good The Black Caps’ top-order remains the key with their big hitters including the flashy Brendon McCullum and impressive Martin Guptill, while Ross Taylor has shone with the bat, but failed last time out against Sri Lanka with Muralitharan troubling him.
Tim Southee’s swing bowling has been a key for New Zealand this tournament and his battle with the Sri Lankan openers will be a key. With support from strangling slow bowlers Daniel Vettori and Nathan McCullum along with the dangerous Jacob Oram (fresh from 4/39 against the Proteas) there’s plenty for Sri Lanka to worry about.
Finally, the Black Caps fielding this tournament has been a strong point, with Oram’s catch to dismiss Jacques Kallis in the quarter-final a highlight. There’s been some fine run-outs too.
The Bad The big issue is who will take the wickets for New Zealand. Southee has claimed 15 wickets this tournament, with all-rounder Oram the next best. They need more from the support acts, if that’s to be Daryl Tuffey and Luke Woodcock, while some wickets from Vettori would help, as he’s only got two to his name this tournament.
New Zealand’s batting does have its concerns with an unhealthy reliance on Taylor, McCullum and Guptill, who didn’t hold the innings together the last time they met Sri Lanka. Jesse Ryder and Kane Williamson made runs against South Africa and need to produce again, while the form of Scott Styris (at an average of 17) is a worry.
The Captain Vettori said: “We need to move on pretty quickly from the South Africa game. We’re proud of our achievement, but we need to concentrate on the semi-final. When we’ve won well, we’ve followed it up with a poor performance. We’ve got to make sure we have another big performance in the bag because Sri Lanka will be very strong in home conditions.”
On the idea of using three spinners, Vettori added: “The fact that it’s a used wicket may allow us to do that, but Sri Lanka is a different team, they have grown up playing spin. We’ll have a long look but probably made that decision tomorrow (Tuesday).”
On who will step up in the semi-final, Vettori said: “It was Jesse Ryder and Jacob Oram who did it against South Africa. That made the difference and it may have to be someone else who does it now.”