Lanka looking for a clean sweep

CRICKET: Sri Lanka will be hoping to make a clean sweep when they take on the defending champions the West Indies in their International Cricket Council Mini World Cup Champions Trophy last qualifying round match at the Braboune Cricket Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.

The Lankans are in a confident mood having won both their previous matches against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe quite convincingly. But this game will be of great importance for both teams as the winners will move into the main competition as the qualifier one and will join South Africa, New Zealand and Pakistan in group 'B'.

The qualifier two will have the tough task of playing against the World champions Australia, England and hosts India in group 'A'. The West Indies are also in great form following two crushing victories against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe respectively. They have been hardly tested in this tournament so far and will be keen to continue with the same form.

The major concern in the Sri Lankan camp is their indiscipline bowling where they have been unable to restrict the opposition to lower totals despite their total dominance in the match. They have considered this matter so importantly that they have invited former Australian bowler Bruce Yardley to be with the team in their attempt to get better.

"I am not a consultant or anything but I am just a friend. They have asked me to be there and so I am. I have just been sorting out a few things for them and that is all I can tell you now" said Yardley who along with Bruce Reid was the only bowler to capture one hundred wickets for Australia without playing against England.

However the Sri Lankan team is not really certain whether they need a full time bowling coach but Yardley's brief presence with the side has been really helpful to the seniors and so to the youngsters in the team. Sri Lanka in their last two outings have conceded a large number extras apart from not being able to contain their opponents to lower totals.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka's premier fast bowler Chaminda Vaas said that the bowling department has to be improved and they are really working on that area. The left arm paceman said that the Indian wickets will assist the batsmen like it did in 1996 and the team will have to be well prepared ahead of their tough fixture against the West Indies. He said that the match against the West Indies is an important one and hope to produce a better performance before moving on to the main competition.

The veteran Sri Lankan paceman also said that the difference between the team that lost the one day series and the test series to India last year and the present one was that the current squad was more united under skipper Mahela Jayawardena.

The Chairman of the national selectors Asantha de Mel said that they would field their best team for the match against the West Indies with paceman Chaminda Vaas coming back in place of Ruchira Perera. He said that as the team had earlier batted first on both outings they will probably decide to bat second in an attempt to get accustomed to the dew factor.

Sri Lanka team manager Micheal Tissera said that the team is well geared up to meet their final challenge as they have now sorted out their problems in the bowling department.

The teams:

SRI LANKA: Mahela Jayawardena (captain), M.S. Atapattu, C.M. Bandara, T.M. Dilshan, C.R.D. Fernando, S.T. Jayasuriya, C.K. Kapugedera, M.F. Maharoof, S.L. Malinga, M. Muralitharan, P.D.R.L. Perera, K.C. Sangakkara (wicketkeeper), W.U. Tharanga, W.P.U.J.C. Vaas.

WEST INDIES: B.C. Lara (captain), R.R. Sarwan (vice-captain), C.S. Baugh (wicketkeeper), I.D.R. Bradshaw, D.J. Bravo, S. Chanderpaul, C.D. Collymore, F.H. Edwards, C.H. Gayle, W.W. Hinds, R.S. Morton, M.N. Samuels, D.R. Smith, J.E. Taylor.

Mumbai, Friday