Another uneven, boring contest looms large as former world champions Sri Lanka, on a bit of a roll at the moment, take on a severely out-of-depth Zimbabwe, in the Champions Trophy
Expecting a contest between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe today? Don’t hold your breath
AHMEDABAD: Another uneven, boring contest looms large as former world champions Sri Lanka, on a bit of a roll at the moment, take on a severely out-of-depth Zimbabwe, in the third game of the ICC Champions Trophy qualifiers at the Sardar Patel Cricket Stadium in Motera on Tuesday.
If the pre-match statements made by the Emerald Islanders are to be believed, then Prosper Utseya’s boys face another tough, embarrassingly short day in the office. The Africans lost to defending champions the West Indies by nine wickets in just over three hours on Sunday in their opening game.
Sri Lankan coach Tom Moody stressed clearly on match eve that the islanders were unlikely to put their foot off the pedal, and their captain Mahela Jayawardene pointed out that he would look for a much more efficient, ruthless performance from his bowlers than what was on show in their 37-run opening game win against Bangladesh.
Jayawardene, though, didn’t rule out applying the ‘rotation policy’ for this game, understandably to preserve the top players in his side for the tougher battles that lie ahead once they progress further in this tournament, as well as to give all the players in the squad some kind of match practice, something that the Lankans are in the dire need of.
Jayawardene and Co. haven’t played much international cricket off late, courtesy the tri-series and the ODI series at home that never took off for various reasons a couple of months back.
What is doubtful, though, is whether Zimbabwe would be able to give the islanders a decent work-out in the park. Perhaps, Bangladesh’s performance against the same opponents in the event’s opening game may serve as some sort of reference point for coach Kevin Curran to pep up his boys, who must be thoroughly distraught after Sunday’s mauling at the hands of the Windies.
“It wasn’t a good performance. The pitch and the conditions were fairly reasonable. There are certain areas we’ve redressed. We didn’t do the basics well. Hopefully, things will be better tomorrow,” said Curran on Monday.
Things need to be bettered on the part of Zimbabwe, otherwise the only point of interest if they bat first, and repeat their follies on Tuesday, would be whether the lights would be needed at all.
The reason Sri Lanka would want to win this game stretches beyond the need to garner points that would assure them of a place in the main event.
An emphatic win would put them in the right frame of mind before they take on the West Indies on October 14 in Mumbai, in a game that would in all likelihood decide who enters the championship proper as the top qualifier.
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