Kenya face an uphill task when they take on Sri Lanka in the ICC World Twenty20
The Preview by Faras Ghani13-Sep-2007
If Sanath Jayasuriya gets going, the Kenyans will be looking at an early exit © AFP
Kenya’s hopes of repeating their heroics of the World Cup 2003 wereswiftly swept aside in the first eleven balls of their match against NewZealand. With that record-loss, Kenya have only one victory in their lastsix Twenty20s including defeat at the hands of Uganda. Sri Lanka, on theother hand, could be classified as the masters of power-hitting, evidentfrom their World Cup 1996 triumph. Their Twenty20 record has been patchythough, with their last match, a warm-up against Pakistan, ending in afive-wicket loss. A stroll under the Johannesburg sun looks on the cardsgiven Sri Lanka’s firepower, even without Muttiah Muralitharan, as Kenyamight find it difficult to shake off the shambles they found themselves ina few days ago.
Bat play:
A strong line-up comprising of Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene,Kumar Sangakkara together with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Chaminda Vaas toprovide late cameos (overs permitting), Sri Lanka can expect to put up adecent score if batting first. Expect an exceptionally quick scoring rateif the ball finds the middle of the bats.Kenya, with a dismal team-aggregate of 73 in 17 overs against New Zealandcan only hope that their batsmen have learned from their mistakes. SteveTikolo, their captain, once again provides the best hope of the teamposting a decent target, or surpassing one set by the opposition. ThomasOdoyo, the allrounder, can score a few quick ones with the tail if thesituation demands.Wrecking ball:
Lasith Malinga, with a hugely successful 50-over World Cup behind him,will be more than a handful with his slingy side-arm action. Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando will also be not too far behind as Sri Lanka have plenty of resources in their fast-bowling department. With Jayasuriya, taking the lead in the spin department due toMurali’s absence, to follow with his in-the-blockhole left-armers, scoring might prove a bit difficult for the Kenyans.Not much was on display from the Kenyan bowling side in the seven oversthey bowled during their last match, but much rests on the opening duo ofOdoyo and Peter Ongondo. Rajesh Bhudia, although hugely unimpressive inhis four-ball spell, might be able to sneak a few overs via his gentlepace but don’t place your bets on it.Keep your eyes on:
Sanath Jayasuria, 38 years old but with an ODI strike-rate of 90 (whichalmost doubles to 174 in Twenty20 internationals), is sure to worry theKenyan bowlers. A veteran of 398 ODIs, Jayasuriya’s timing square of thewicket could prove useful especially with the short boundaries. His two efforts at Twenty20 have brought 92 runs with an unbeaten half-century aswell as five wickets. His bowling towards the end of the innings will beas important as his batting at the start of it.Shop talk:
“We will need a lot of cool heads because the game is very fast,”Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka captain, had said on his arrival in SouthAfrica. He is staying modest about his team’s chances at the inauguraltournament in spite of having big names in the line-up. “It’s going to bea challenge because we haven’t played much Twenty20 cricket. And theshorter the version of the game, the more open it becomes for otherteams.”Pitching it right:
The weather outlook remains warm and sunny and expect plenty of runswith either team batting first. As seen in the match between West Indiesand Bangladesh, wayward bowling can be a huge blessing and will not gounnoticed by the batsmen.Sri Lanka (likely): Upul Tharanga, Sanath Jayasuriya, KumarSangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Jehan Mubarak, TillakaratneDilshan, Chamara Silva, Lasith Malinga, Chaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando,Farveez MaharoofKenya (likely): David Obuya, Collins Obuya, Tanmay Mishra, SteveTikolo (capt), Thomas Odoyo, Alex Obanda, Jimmy Kamande, Rajesh Bhudia,Maurice Ouma (wk), Nehemiah Odhiambo, Peter Ongondo