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Confident Lanka take on Pakistan in Champions trophy curtain-raiser

by Sa'adi Thawfeeq

The news that Sanath Jayasuriya is back to lead them in the curtain-raiser match of the ICC Champions trophy was enough to further boost the morale of the Sri Lanka team as they prepared to take on Pakistan under lights at the R. Premadasa Stadium today.

"The morale is very high and we are confident," said Jayasuriya after the Sri Lanka team had wound up their final practice before today's encounter.

Although Jayasuriya will play he won't be seen displaying his all-round capabilities in this game. He will definitely open the batting, but is unlikely to bowl his slow left-arm spinners because of the injury he suffered in the Morocco Cup final against South Africa over three weeks ago. On the field too he will be extra careful not to fall on his dislocated right shoulder, lest it pops out again.

The Sri Lankan captain still feels some stiffness after a batting session, but this and other restrictions of his movements is not stopping him from leading his team in a very vital Pool 4 match for both sides.

"Every match in this competition has to be treated like a final although the format is slightly different," said Jayasuriya.

"We have played Pakistan so often that each team knows the other's strengths and weaknesses.

"We cannot take Pakistan lightly although they have not performed to expectations lately. They are a team who can bounce back at any time," he said.

Sri Lanka are going into the lung-opener of the competition retaining the same team that won the Morocco Cup for them defeating South Africa by 24 runs in the final last month.

Sri Lanka will field a three-prong seam attack comprising Chaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando and Pulasthi Gunaratne with spin support coming from Muttiah Muralitharan and Upul Chandana. The little-used off-spin of Aravinda de Silva and Russell Arnold can be relied upon to compensate for Jayasuriya's absence in the bowling line up.

Sri Lanka's batting has been shored up by the return of past master Aravinda de Silva. Having shed 12-14 kilos before the England tour, the country's leading run-getter in both types of the game has given the suspect middle-order the much needed stability. It was quite evident the way he performed in the recently concluded Morocco Cup where he won two man-of-the-match awards with his own bat.

Jayasuriya and De Silva apart, the Sri Lankan batting possesses stroke makers in the calibre of Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Russell Arnold to give them a total big enough to put the Pakistan batting under pressure.

Pakistan are also having injury problems with key batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq fighting against a heel injury which may rule him out of today's game.

"He is struggling to get fit, but we have not ruled him out yet," said Pakistan coach Mudassar Nazar.

Pakistan however have been strengthened by the return of middle-order batsman Yousuf Youhanna who was forced to leave the Nairobi tournament over a dispute with the team management.

Although Pakistan captain Waqar Younis said it will be the host country that will be under pressure to perform than his side, Jayasuriya reacted to that statement saying: "We are not under any pressure whether we play at home or abroad".

The team winning the toss is likely to bat first as the pitch has a tendency to get slower as the day goes by.

Pakistan failed to reach the final of the Morocco Cup tournament and were fortunate to finish joint winners with Australia in the Nairobi final due to rain following some ordinary display in the rest of the tournament.

Waqar said that all that was in the past and that Pakistan would like to commence the ICC Champions trophy tournament afresh.

A colourful opening ceremony has been planned with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe gracing the occasion as the chief guest.

The teams: SRI LANKA: Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Aravinda de Silva, Russell Arnold, Upul Chandana, Chaminda Vaas, Pulasthi Gunaratne, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan.

PAKISTAN (from): Waqar Younis (captain), Saeed Anwar, Imran Nazir, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhanna, Abdur Razzaq, Misbah-ul-Haq, Rashid Latif, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Sami.

Umpires: Daryl Harper (Australia) and Steve Bucknor (West Indies), TV umpire: Rudi Koertzen (South Africa), Match Referee: Mike Procter (South Africa).