Sri Lanka start overwhelming favourites
Kenya face an uphill task when they take on Sri Lanka in the ICC World Twenty20
![]() |
![]()
|
Bat play:
A strong line-up comprising of Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene,
Kumar Sangakkara together with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Chaminda Vaas to
provide late cameos (overs permitting), Sri Lanka can expect to put up a
decent score if batting first. Expect an exceptionally quick scoring rate
if the ball finds the middle of the bats.
Lasith Malinga, with a hugely successful 50-over World Cup behind him, will be more than a handful with his slingy side-arm action. Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando will also be not too far behind as Sri Lanka have plenty of resources in their fast-bowling department. With Jayasuriya, taking the lead in the spin department due to Murali's absence, to follow with his in-the-blockhole left-armers, scoring might prove a bit difficult for the Kenyans.
Sanath Jayasuria, 38 years old but with an ODI strike-rate of 90 (which almost doubles to 174 in Twenty20 internationals), is sure to worry the Kenyan bowlers. A veteran of 398 ODIs, Jayasuriya's timing square of the wicket could prove useful especially with the short boundaries. His two efforts at Twenty20 have brought 92 runs with an unbeaten half-century as well as five wickets. His bowling towards the end of the innings will be as important as his batting at the start of it.
"We will need a lot of cool heads because the game is very fast," Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka captain, had said on his arrival in South Africa. He is staying modest about his team's chances at the inaugural tournament in spite of having big names in the line-up. "It's going to be a challenge because we haven't played much Twenty20 cricket. And the shorter the version of the game, the more open it becomes for other teams."
The weather outlook remains warm and sunny and expect plenty of runs with either team batting first. As seen in the match between West Indies and Bangladesh, wayward bowling can be a huge blessing and will not go unnoticed by the batsmen.
Faras Ghani is an editorial assistant on Cricinfo