Second Twenty20 International against Australia:

Sri Lanka will go for the kill

Dilanka MANNAKKARA

It was the Lions who roared on Saturday night at Pallekelle stadium which hosted its first Twenty20 game under lights in front of a massive home crowd and it was Sri Lanka’s first Twenty20 win at home from five games played.

Skipper Dilshan made headlines with a blistering 100 as his opposite number Cameron White surprisingly used Shane Watson and John Hastings with their medium pace for the death overs instead of left arm spinner O’Keefe and Leggie Steven Smith who were the most economical bowlers but didn’t finish their quota of four overs.

Dilshan was fired up with a spat between Mitchel Johnson and even more vociferous with Shane Watson who threw the ball at Dilshan’s glove and appealed for obstructing the field. Dilshan replied with a magnificent 100 hammering Watson and Johnson in the final few overs and the spectators thoroughly enjoyed the mini battle.

Sri Lanka will be looking for another bashing by their Skipper and the powerful batting order in today’s second Twenty20 International but will have to pull up their socks today especially in fielding. Although Sri Lanka outclassed the Aussies, they missed two simple run outs and two catches which would usually be grabbed with both hands and also gifted five over throws.

Incidentally it was two of Sri Lanka’s best fielders Dilshan and Mathews who dropped the catches which they would have caught nine times out of ten. Mathews who is one of Sri Lanka’s best young fielders has unfortunately dropped some catches against England during the World Cup Quarter Final as well as the recent Twenty20 against England. An interesting fact is that it was Eoin Morgan who was reprieved on both occasions.

The batting clicked well for Sri Lanka although Mahela Jayawardena was dismissed for a rare Twenty20 failure at the top of the order. Chandimal was unfortunate to be out hit wicket and Sangakkara looked confident with his 30 runs. Although Jeevan Mendis played well at number five, a promotion for Mathews at number five would be a fruitful one with his elegant stroke play and power hitting. However a big plus for Sri Lanka was their spin bowling. The Aussie batsmen seemed to have no clue reading Dilruwan Perera’s fastish off breaks and Rangana Herath’s tidy left arm spin. Shaun Marsh, David Warner and Skipper White were out of sorts against Dilruwan and Sri Lanka may use him in the Power play to open the bowling against left hander David Warner. Dilruwan batting at number seven would be a bit of a concern as he isn’t renowned for his big hitting so the Lankans would hope that their top order would do the job for them. Dhammika Prasad was taken for a hammering as he was too short throughout and with Australia’s struggle against spin, Sri Lanka might be tempted to play Suraj Randiv instead of Prasad.

Australia would expect their big guns Shane Watson, David Hussey and Cameron White to step up and take it to the Lankan bowlers while it would be a productive move to promote Brad Haddin up the order with his clean hitting against spinners. Mitchell Johnson’s first spell of the tour was disheartening in its inconsistency.

More encouraging was the bowling and batting of Steve O’Keefe, and the slugging power of David Warner who will need more support from the top order.

There are indications that seamer James Pattinson might play instead of John Hastings who went at 11.3 runs per over.