|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Friday, 24 December 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Sports | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Sri Lankans find motivation for New Zealand series AUCKLAND, Thursday (AFP) - Sri Lanka have turned to world rankings for motivation as they enter their one-day cricket series against New Zealand with limited preparation, without proven match winner Muttiah Muralitharan and facing a stark climate change. At stake in the series is the world No 2 one-day ranking behind world champions Australia, and Sri Lanka's build-up has been wrecked by rain. Their tour opener against Central Districts was abandoned Tuesday early in the second innings, and the second scheduled match against Northern Districts was cancelled without a ball being bowled on Thursday. The visitors will play five one-day internationals and two Tests in New Zealand. The home team are full of confidence after their most successful period in 32 years of one-day internationals. They have 18 wins from 22 games this year, including a tied series with world champions Australia earlier this month. Until their arrival here it had also been a positive year for Sri Lanka, winning 20 of 27 one-dayers and currently ranked second in the world - just one point ahead of New Zealand But their hopes of an easy adjustment to New Zealand conditions have been washed away by rain, leaving skipper Marvan Atapattu to cite the rankings as a source of inspiration. "They do matter for us," he said. "Everybody is trying to get to the top. That is one way of measuring how you are doing." New Zealand is experiencing an unseasonably wet and cold summer and an unsettled forecast for much of the country may have an impact on the opening one-day international in Auckland on Sunday. With temperatures hovering around 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit), Sri Lankan coach and former Australian opener John Dyson pointed to climatic change as the biggest factor his young side had to contend with. "They've been used to 30 degree days minimum and they are the sort of guys that get affected by it pretty quickly." To add to Sri Lanka's discomfort, opening bowler Nuwan Zoysa dislocated a finger and needed stitches during the opening tour match. The attack was already weakened by the absence of Muralitharan who remained at home to recover from shoulder surgery in August, but they have depth aplenty in their batting line up. Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene are among the top 15 run scorers in Test cricket this year. Jayasuriya needs only a further 147 to reach 10,000 runs from 332 one-day internationals - a feat achieved by just two other players, Sachin Tendulkar who has scored 13,431 runs in 340 matches, and Inzamam-ul-Haq with 10,267 from 328 matches. Atapattu is not far behind with 7,292 runs in his 224 one-day internationals. In one-day cricket, no one has scored more this year than Sangakkara who has totalled 1,009 from 26 matches at 56.05. If New Zealand has an Achilles heel it is in the top order, particularly an opening partner for skipper Stephen Fleming. Recent matches have seen all-rounders Scott Styris, Jacob Oram and Chris Cairns along with wicketkeeper Brendan McCullum called on to steady the innings. Sri Lanka dominated their one-day series in New Zealand four years ago, winning 4-1, but in total have won just six of 17 one-day internationals between the two countries. "This is the best time to go out and prove to ourselves that we are good enough to play outside the country," said Atapattu. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
