An encounter to watch

Starting Saturday, Sri Lanka's new Rangiri Dambulla Stadium plays host to the first round of the Bank Alfalah Cup featuring three top teams, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Pakistan. Each will play the other once in Dambulla then move on to the SSC Ground in Colombo for the second round. Then on the 23rd the two qualifiers will face-off in the day/night final at the Premadasa Stadium.

Everyone expects this to be a keenly fought tournament as three evenly-matched top rated teams will compete but the heat and humidity in Sri Lanka may well test their stamina.

The Sri Lankan's under their new leader, Marvan Atapattu should have the edge not only for playing at home but also for having a fistful of the ideal type of players to excel in these conditions, spinning allrounders.

New Zealand has already shown the right temperament by fighting-out the just ended drawn Test series and should be fully adjusted to the pitches and conditions. The only slight worry for inspirational captain Stephen Fleming is the fitness of his ace spinner Daniel Vettori who injured himself in an ugly on-field accident with Marvan Atapattu during the second Test in Kandy.

Although he did bowl later it remains to be seen if Vettori is fully fit in time for New Zealand's first game on Sunday. He can be of vital importance for the Kiwis who would like to end their season on a winning note.

New Zealand will also be happy they have several allrounders in the side with the likes of Chris Cairns, Chris Harris, Jacob Oram, Scott Styris and Andre Adams giving Fleming added options in both batting and bowling.

But Kiwis trump card would be speedster Shane Bond with his mid-90 mph deliveries swinging both ways coupled with his accuracy can surely cause a few concerns for opposing batsmen. Fleming too has found a rich vein of form scoring a heroic double-ton in the first Test and will be looking at building up on this.

Revamped Pakistan, the third team in the tournament want to carry on rebuilding after their recent success in Sharjah. Fielding a new team and led by a new captain Rashid Latif, they won that tournament that featured Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe and remained unbeaten.

The team selected for the Alfalah Cup has been given a major boost with the inclusion of speedster Shoaib Akhtar who strengthens their pace attack further. Mohammad Sami and Umar Gul will most likely share the new ball with Shoaib used to break middle-over partnerships.

Rashid would also be looking at his spinners Danish Kaneria, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez with high hopes as they could prove very fruitful on Sri Lankan pitches. Another plus is Malik and Hafeez are also good batsmen thus giving the side further balance.

Coming back to hosts Sri Lanka, their only worry is full fitness of Marvan Atapattu who suffered some concussion in the accident. There are no other major concerns as they have some more top batsmen in Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Romesh Kaluwitharana back in good form.

Muttiah Muralitharan will be his usual `more than a handful' assisted by their long list of spinners that includes Jayasuriya, Dharmasena, Arnold and Chandana.

It would also be interesting to see how Chaminda Vaas bowls after surprising everyone by becoming the leading wicket taker at the World Cup.

All three teams have strong reasons for winning the tournament and none can be called underdogs. Sri Lanka is playing at home and want to go on to tour West Indies in positive frame of mind with a win on their backs. The New Zealanders are trying to end their season on a winning note, a season in which they defeated India at home and also qualified for the Super Six stage of the World Cup. While Pakistan with their young players will try to prove their victory in Sharjah was no fluke and the new players going all out to cement some permanent places.

This should be a good tournament to watch and all we have to do is wait and see who comes out trumps.

Sri Lanka squad: Marvan Atapattu (capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene (vice-captain), Romesh Kaluwitharana, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Russel Arnold, Upul Chandana, Chaminda Vaas, Dharshana Gamage, Prabath Nissanka, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Kumar Dharmasena, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kaushalya Weereratne.

New Zealand squad: Stephen Fleming (capt), Andre Adams, Shane Bond, Chris Cairns, Chris Harris, Matt Horne, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills, Chris Nevin, Jacob Oram, Scott Styris, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori (Paul Wiseman temporary cover), Lou Vincent.

Pakistan squad: Rashid Latif (capt/wk), Taufeeq Umar, Mohammad Hafeez, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Yasir Hameed, Shabbir Ahmed, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Umar Gul, Abdul Razzaq, Faisal Athar, Faisal Iqbal, Danish Kaneria.