Daijiworld Media Network
Dhaka, Apr 3: Sri Lanka have played quite outstanding cricket of late. First a clean sweep over hosts Bangladesh, then a victorious Asia Cup just ahead of the multi-nation event and they have been very good in the tournament itself. Apart from a heart-breaking loss against England, Sri Lanka have won every single game and boy, their performance against New Zealand in their final Super-10s game was sensational. Though the batting has not clicked together as a unit, the bowlers have stepped up and delivered quality goods so far in almost every single game.
The West Indies too have had a good run recently. They beat England at home and won both their warm-up games here before going down badly to India, their only poor show in the tournament so far. Their victories over Australia and Pakistan were quite sensational, winning both games coming from behind. Chris Gayle has not been in the best of forms and his side would dearly love him to score big in this all important game. The top-order hasn't been consistent but the experience of Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy in the death overs, have come in handy as the duo were instrumental in their wins over Australia and Pakistan. Samuel Badree's new ball bowling has been quite impressive while Krishmar Santokie's change of pace has foxed many a batsmen. Trump card Sunil Narine has lived upto his expectations and as an entire unit, West Indies would be looking forward to do well one more time to seal a place in the final.
When these two sides met in the final of the 2012 T20 Cup, West Indies stunned Mahela Jayawardene's men to clinch a low-scoring thriller. This time though, they meet one stage earlier and it's the first semi-final of this edition's T20 Championship. Hello and a warm welcome to what promises to be a cracking contest between two very good sides. The biggest news is that, Sri Lanka's original skipper Dinesh Chandimal has pulled out of the game and it will be Lasith Malinga again who will lead the Lankans today.
Sri Lanka have won the toss and have opted to bat
Sammy: 'We too would have batted first, need to restrict them to a decent score and chase it down. We are looking to have a perfect game. We tend to lose wickets in the middle overs, need to do better on that count. No changes to our team. We can't think about what happened 2 years ago. We just need to continue doing well as we have done in the last two games.'
Malinga: 'We will bat first, we will look to do well and post a big score. One change for us, Thisara has been replaced by Prasanna. I enjoyed the last game against New Zealand. This is a big game for us. We played the Asia Cup here, we are confident and looking forward to doing well.'
Teams:
West Indies (Playing XI): Dwayne Smith, Chris Gayle, Lendl Simmons, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy(c), Denesh Ramdin(w), Andre Russell, Samuel Badree, Sunil Narine, Krishmar Santokie
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Kushal Janith Perera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara(w), Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, Seekkuge Prasanna, Nuwan Kulasekara, Sachithra Senanayake, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga(c)
Pitch Report: The cracks have opened up a bit more, but not much to trouble the batsmen. Else, the pitch resembles a road and should be good to bat on. The team winning the toss would love to bat first, reckons Shane Warne.
The dew has been kind enough at Dhaka and we've seen that the side bowling second has not been affected much.
Match Preview
In their bid to reach their second successive T20 WC final, defending champions West Indies will be looking to put up another clinical performance when they take on a gutsy Sri Lanka, who in turn would be hoping to avenge their loss in the last edition's summit clash.
Both teams boast of bowling line-ups that can turn the game around in a few deliveries but the batting is in complete contrast. Sri Lanka boast of two of the most stylish and experienced players in T20s while West Indies have 2 of the most devastating at the top of the order.
Sri Lanka: Both Sri Lanka and West Indies have had identical victories in their final group league encounters in which they had crushed their respective opponents for paltry scores of less than 100 runs and will be keen on a repeat in the semi-final.
Both the sides boast of world class spinners, who are winning games on a consistent basis. While Rangana Herath would want to repeat his Chittagong heroics with another superlative effort against the Gayles and the Bravos, the Jayawardenes and the Sangakkaras will be equally wary of the threats that will be posed by Messrs Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree.
Sri Lanka have good memories of the Shere-e-Bangla Stadium here as they lifted the Asia Cup at this very ground not even a month ago. The Lankan batting depends heavily on their three senior players -- Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan -- and all of them need to fire in order for the side to post a good total against the defending champions. Mahela Jayawardene, in his last T20 tournament, has been his team's top scorer with 134 runs while Sangakkara, has had a horrible run so far, scoring just 18 runs from his three innings.
It will also be a test of character for young Dinesh Chandimal, who will be back from the one-match ban for slow over rate, as he prepares to lead the side in his biggest match so far. Chandimal himself has not got a proper opportunity to bat so far and will be itching to perform on a big stage.
The Lankan bowlers including their 'King of Death' Lasith Malinga need to be aware of the fact how the Caribbeans can change the complexion of the game in the final overs. James Faulkner and Umar Gul were taught a lesson by Sammy and Bravo earlier in this tournament. And Chandimal's men would like to buck that trend.
While West Indies have an advantage as they have played all their matches at Mirpur, Sri Lanka will know that the dew won't be as big a factor in Dhaka as it has been at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.
West Indies: West Indies are a solid Twenty20 side which has all its bases covered despite the absence of Kieron Pollard. Their effort has been creditable as Chris Gayle hardly had any role with the bat apart from his half-century against the Australians, which some would say was slow by his standards. But Dwayne Bravo and captain Darren Sammy, apart from their bowlers, have raised their hands up whenever their team needed them the most. The duo has earned two tremendous wins against quality oppositions with their willow. If the Australia match went right down to the wire, the Pakistan team simply had no clue as to what hit them in the final few overs.
Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree with six and 10 wickets, respectively, have justified their top billings of No. 1 and 2 in the ICC's List of T20 bowlers. It will be a test for the Sri Lankan batsmen who haven't done really well, save the England game, but somehow managed to fly under the radar because of a good spin attack. The most interesting addition to the team is left-arm seamer Krishmar Santokie, who has also kept things tight with the new ball. Not blessed with a lot of pace, the seamer has got the ball to swing both ways with a round arm action which many batsmen are finding it difficult to pick up.