Lankans seem to have lost their winning ways

Pakistan will not be easy to beat in second game:

The Pakistanis, now that they have dented the confidence of the Sri Lankans by beating them by six wickets in a overs shortened First of Five one-day internationals due to rain, will be looking to further inflict wounds on the home team.

The second game will be played today under lights at the Pallekelle Stadium and it is hoped that the weather that took a sudden change which required three stoppages for rain, will relent and allow a full quota of 50 overs to be played.

That dreaded pair of Duckworth and Lewis who smile when it rains because they will be called to play, stepped in to reduce the game by 8 overs after the third stoppage.

Reduction of overs

The reduction of overs probably went against the Lankans. When it rained for the third time and play was stopped Sri Lanka were gasping at 107 for7.

D and L were then called in and they reduced the game to a 42 over affair. In the remaining 5 overs with the cream of the Lanka batting on the bench, they could post only 28 more runs and the final score of 135 for 8 was insufficient to stall the Pakistani batsmen from going on the rampage and getting those runs in 42 overs.

Now that the Pakistanis have their tails up, after squaring the Twenty20 series and going one up in the best of five one-dayers, the Lankans will have to play from out of their skins to win the series.

High esteem

The Lankans are held in high esteem in the 50 over format.

If they gift this series to Pakistan, it will be a calamity and no excuses however good could be accepted.

When the Lankans won the first Twenty20, they had the visitors, to use boxing parlance on the ropes.

This was obvious by he looks of worry on their faces.

Then when the Lankans were expected to continue the good work and shoot down the visitors in the next game, they rest two of their cricketing drones – skipper Mahela Jayawardene and Lasith Malinga – and bring the confidence and smiles back to the faces of the visitors by gifting the second game.

Cricketers and cricket fans are furious. They reckon that the cricket management, the think tanks and Sri Lanka Cricket should apologize to the public for this irresponsibe act and poor thinking.

A bit overcast

At the time of writing the weather here looks a bit overcast. But today’s weather is so unpredictable, that there could be a sudden change for the better or worse before the game starts. Surprisingly the Lankans seem to have lost that ruthlessness that was associated with their game. The hunger and the urgency seem to have deserted them.

As we have always been saying, and reiterate, a psychologist could be of great help at this juncture. It is time that the three batting guns in the Lankan batting line up fire, and fire to destroy the enemy.

Chandimal in a tangle

Skipper Jayawardena, Dilshan and Sangakkara cannot afford to keep failing. Young Dinesh Chandimal from whom much was expected, seems to have got himself into a tangle. He does not seem to know which ball to pick to hit. Tharanga, Thirimanne, Mathews and Perera must make runs and big runs at that.

When the top order fails, there is nothing that the tailenders could do to swell the total. So it is paramount that the top order put runs on the board for the bowlers to deliver.

And the bowlers, especially Malinga, Kulesekera, Mathews and Perera must endeavour to bowl wicket to wicket and good line and length.

They could take a lesson from the Pakistani bowlers – Gul, Tanvir and Sami who were always positive and attacking.

Quite adequate

The Pakistani batting is quite adequate and batsmen of the caliber of Mohamed Hafeez, Younis Khan although he failed, Misbah, Umar Akmal and Sahid Afridi can turn a game on its head with their clever thinking and devastating stroke play.

There is the possibility of Sri Lanka making changes, while the Pakistanis could go in with the same match winning squad.

While the visitors will be looking to further rub the Lankans, here’s hoping that the homesters would have regained their lost form and squared the series going into the next three at the R.Premadasa Stadium.