Sri Lanka's hopes dented by missing trio

Sri Lanka find themselves in a must-win situation as they prepare to take on Pakistan in a three-match one-day international series at the R Premadasa Stadium on Friday.

They have never gone into a one-day international series so much under pressure as to win all three matches to avoid a play-off to play in the ICC Champions trophy.

Marvan Atapattu, the captain, is hoping that his players will make use of the situation to lift them up and perform. "Most teams do well after playing against Australia. When you know it's a must-win situation the players lift themselves up for the occasion.

"I hope it will be one of those occasions," he added. "I guarantee you that we want to focus on one game at a time. We are desperate to do well here. We have to win all three matches to lift ourselves from the No. 7 spot.

"We'll just go out there and give off our best shot. What else can we think of? If we think of the rankings and what we are going to end up with I don't think we will be doing too well. We'll be focusing elsewhere.

"When we were No. 2 in the rankings it didn't matter too much. We were doing well and all of a sudden here we are at No. 7 and people saying this is what you have got to do. We are all a bit concerned. We all believe that we are better than our ranking indicates."

"It's all about being competitive. Just because you won a couple of games earlier don't mean that you keep on winning. If that is the case I don't think West Indies should be in the position they are today after what they have done in the 1980s."

Atapattu admitted no team would like losing two of their best players ahead of a crucial series. Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas have both been ruled out with injuries but Atapattu was hopeful that the players replacing them, Upul Tharanga and Lasith Malinga, would give their 100 percent.

"Let's hope and pray that they are good against the big boys when they play in the big league," said Atapattu. "In one-day cricket I firmly believe that if you bat well, you will win more games frequently. Our batting has to click.

"There are batsmen whom you expect to score every time, but it doesn't happen that way," he added. "It's a matter of having the right people behind to put them under pressure to get the best out of them. If you know that there is no one pushing you for places it does not create a healthy environment."

Pakistan's coach, Bob Woolmer, whose side recently lost 4-1 against India, conceded that the one-day series could be a precursor to the play-off for the Champions Trophy.

"You are suddenly under pressure to win all the time," said Woolmer. "The bottom line is winning and losing. Although you've got the all the best players in the world, there is no guarantee that you are going to win.

"In Sri Lanka's case, when they played India here they beat them. When they went to India they got thrashed. Suddenly it is completely a different ball-game. People have to be more prepared for teams winning and losing."

Pakistan (from) Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal (wk), Salman Butt, Danish Kaneria, Naved-ul-Hasan, Imran Farhat, Faisal Iqbal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Abdur Rehman, Tahir Khan.

Sri Lanka (from) Marvan Atapattu (capt), Mahela Jayawardene, Jehan Mubarak, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Russel Arnold, Chamara Kapugedera, Farveez Maharoof, Malinga Bandara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Nuwan Kulasekara, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Lasith Malinga, Dhammika Prasad.