Lee nearly shatters Sri Lanka's World Cup dream

Brett Lee's scorching pace and unforgiving hostility very nearly ended Sri Lanka's World Cup dream on Friday afternoon.

Victory against the all-conquering Australians was never likely after Ricky Ponting won the toss, nor was it essential to progress into the next round.

Sri Lanka could qualify for the semi-finals with just one win, and they were always going to target the India and Zimbabwe games for that victory.

But the loss of Sanath Jayasuriya with a broken arm would have had catastrophic consequences.

The left-hander has been the catalyst for Sri Lanka's recent revival and stands out as the side's premier match-winner with the blade.

Moreover, Jayasuriya has played a vital role with his left-arm spin, invariably completing his full quota of overs and often taking important wickets.

His possible absence in the next game against India would upset the balance of the side and pose a selection quandary: to play an extra bowler or, more likely, bowl Aravinda de Silva for a minimum of ten overs?

Against the spin-assured Indians, de Silva's part-time off-breaks are likely to be targeted and it remains to be seen as to whether his undisputed shrewdness will cover his obvious limitations with the ball.

Indeed, the ease with which Adam Gilchrist and Ponting nullified the threat of Chaminda Vaas and then plundered Sri Lanka's assortment of spinners is a concern.

Clearly, with their currently limited bowling resources, the best way for Sri Lanka to win games is to score a mountain of runs and then apply pressure during a run chase with tight bowling and dervish-like fielding.

Thankfully, the current prognosis on Jayasuriya is that his chipped finger and badly bruised forearm are unlikely to rule him out of the tournament.

Alex Kontouri, the Sri Lanka physio, is adopting a wait and see attitude: "It will take at least 48 hours to decide if he can play in the next match. But he is not out of the tournament."

Should Sri Lanka meet the Australians again, in the semi-finals or final, Jayasuriya can expect a similar working over by Australia's pace bowlers.

"When you bowl to him on his body he tends to wriggle," said Ponting after the game.

Adding, unapologetically: "It's a World Cup and we're trying to bowl where their batsmen are least likely to score. If that happens to be at the body then it will be at the body.

"We're not going to go out there and bowl him wide ones because he's going to smack us over cover or point every time - that's a weakness in his game and we've picked up on that of late."

But, in truth, Jayasuriya is not a complete mug against short bowling and should he survive the initial burst against the hard, glossy new ball then he can still prosper.

In fact, after the early retirement of the skipper, Sri Lanka fared moderately well as Marvan Atapattu and Hashan Tillakaratne added 36 runs.

Lee was forced to wait for the fifth ball of his fifth over to claim his first wicket. Had Atapattu not popped back a return catch then Lee could well have taken his sweater after a wicketless first spell.

Sri Lanka would most probably have still lost chasing such a towering target but an already fragile middle order might have survived with more confidence.

At least de Silva proved that even Australian bowlers can be flogged.

So much for 37-years-old's powers having waned. The veteran rolled back the years with a vintage swivel pull onto Centurion's grassy banks and his one-legged flick for six off Lee later was simply magical.

De Silva is batting with better form and greater freedom than he has down for years. He no longer has anything to prove: no selectors to please, no treadmills to run. A new life beckons and de Silva wants to end two decades on a high.

For Shane Warne, Jonty Rhodes, Alan Donald, Wasim Akram, possibly Waqar Younis and perhaps Carl Hooper there was no fairytale farewell. On the contrary, this World Cup has shed no tears.

Can de Silva bow out with a bang? Sri Lanka certainly needs one.