Colombo, 20th March 2011

Sri Lanka are in tremendous form after an impressive showing to come second in Group B with the highest net run rate of all the competing nations just demonstrating how easy they have had it, bar their 11 run defeat to Pakistan.

They were on track to trounce Australia on a sharply spinning surface when rain halted play. Ricky Ponting was so concerned with the favourable spinning conditions that he labelled the track at Kettarama Stadium, Colombo as "rolled mud", thus alerting other host nations of his concern with handling spinning pitches.

Sri Lanka completed a brace of wins by defeating Zimbabwe by 139 runs and New Zealand by 112 runs.

Sri Lanka's top order of Dilshan, Tharanga have combined well with the old-guard of Sangakkara and Jayawardena to post big scores. But the middle order has been brittle with neither Silva nor Samaraweera making any significant contributions yet. Mathews is likely to move up the order after a power packed knock against New Zealand.

The Sri Lankan bowling is on song and was probably the best all round attack on display in the group matches. Malinga has impressed again with his special brand of yorkers, and the spin trio led by legend Murali, backed up by Herath and Mendis have effected the Sri Lankan mid innings "strangle" with precision.

Colombo, 4th March 2011

Sri Lanka have had two thumping wins over minnows - by 201 runs over Canada as Mahela Jayawardena fired a rapid century, and by 9 wickets over Kenya. An inform Lasith Malinga returned from injury to york the Kenyans with a historic second world cup hat trick. This was sandwiched with a narrow loss to Pakistan after a middle order collapse cost Sri Lanka momentum.

Coach Trevor Bayliss sees his team come through with a strong showing in the main knockout phase of the world cup.

Colombo, 18th Feb 2011: Sri Lanka completed their two warm up games with impressive showings in their wins over Netherlands and West Indies. Whilst they did win both games with relative ease and by big margins, it was the superb all round display by a well balanced outfit that caught the eye.

 

Preview of Sri Lanka

Colombo, 11 Feb 2011

Predicted win odds: 75%

Sri Lanka is one of the tournament favourites on their home soil and in familiar conditions. Especially if they get to contest the semi final scheduled for Colombo at their fortress of R Premadasa Stadium at Kettarama.

Their best World Cup performance was when they caused the biggest boilover in World Cup history as they crushed Australia to be crowned champions in 1996. Sri Lanka were also finalists in 2007 and semifinalists in 2003. Their World Cup win-loss record has been impressive in recent times and now stands at 25-30 with 1 tie and 1 no result .

Captain Kumar Sangakkara leads the team and is a dangerous top order batsman. They are coached by the largely invisible Trevor Bayliss of Australia. The form of Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardena and Dilshan are the cornerstone of Sri Lanka’s bid for success.

Strengths: The top order of Sangakkara, Jayawardena and Dilshad pose a menace for any bowling attack. Muttiah Muralitharan, the only survivor from 1996 and playing his last tournament would be motivated to deliver a second World Cup win as a farewell. He is well backed by Herath and Mendis. There is power hitting in the lower middle order in the shape of Angelo Mathews and Thissara Perera. The fielding is well drilled and Lasith Malinga poses multiple threats with both new and old balls.

Weaknesses: After a board bungle, Sri Lanka were unable to have any recent practice on the relatively new surfaces prepared for the World Cup at new stadiums at Pallekalle and Hambantota, whilst even the newly upgraded Kettarama may not be as familiar for the Sri Lankans after being unable to play on the newly laid surface. There is a lack of support for Malinga in the pace department with the erratic Dilhara Fernando expected to partner him. The middle order is prone to collapses.

Sri Lanka World Cup squad: Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Mahela Jayawardene (vice-captain), Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedara, Angelo Mathews, Tissara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath

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