Tom Moody expects his team to maintain consistency as they prepare to earn vital points against South Africa in a World Cup Super Eights clash on Wednesday.
GEORGETOWN: Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody expects his team to maintain consistency as they prepare to earn vital points against South Africa in a World Cup Super Eights clash here on Wednesday.
"A win tomorrow will put us in a strong position because South Africa are not going to lose too many matches in the Super Eights," the Sri Lanka coach said on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka stormed into the second round with an all-win record as they beat India, Bangladesh and first-timers Bermuda in group matches, carrying forward two crucial points in the process.
They will now take on defending champions Australia, the West Indies, New Zealand, top-ranked South Africa, England and debutants Ireland in the Super Eights.
"I'm pleased with our performances, finishing games off and being professional from start to finish," said Moody.
"The match against India was very big and carrying points to this stage is very important. This game is also big for us because they are the number one side and have been playing very good cricket in recent months."
The Sri Lanka coach did not believe that only his spinners would play a big role against the rival batsmen, saying South Africa had been improving in this area.
"It is an area which over the years has been recognised as not their strongest point. It's also an area they have improved upon," said Moody.
"We had South Africa in a Test series in Sri Lanka recently and they certainly played better than what they had been playing in the past. Playing against Murali, it doesn't matter whether you are a South African or from any other part of the world. He is a different challenge completely."
Sri Lanka have relied on their spinners in middle overs to dry up the runs, with off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan being a key bowler. They also have effective slow bowlers in Sanath Jayasuriya and Tillakaratne Dilshan.
Muralitharan was instrumental in his team's significant victory over India at Port of Spain in Trinidad when he bagged three wickets, but Moody said he was not sure whether the conditions here would help his team.
"We'll see it tomorrow whether the conditions will favour us or not, but we are looking forward to playing here," he said. "The pitch looks good and the outfield is excellent, but how the pitch will play is still a mystery to all of us as it's a new surface."
Middle-order batsman Dilshan, meanwhile, said the fielding played an important role in the previous group games.
"We are a better fielding side now. We have been trying different things and we are getting better day by day. We have been working very hard on our fielding," said Dilshan.
Sri Lanka won the World Cup in 1996 in the sub-continent, but Dilshan said the current side were not looking that far ahead at the moment.
"Sri Lanka had an experienced side in 1996, but we are not looking that far ahead. We are taking one match at a time."
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