Sri Lanka hope to seal berth in final

Stung by their comprehensive defeat to India, Sri Lanka will aim to seal a berth in the final when they take on New Zealand in a league encounter of the Coca-Cola Cup triangular one-day series in Colombo tomorrow.

India's first win in the series, a seven-wicket defeat of Sri Lanka, has opened up the tournament and Sri Lanka and New Zealand cannot take their place in the final for granted.

Sri Lanka, who won their first three matches in the series before losing to India, lead the table with six points but a loss to New Zealand tomorrow means theoretically there would still be a possibility of their being knocked out.

A Kiwi win tomorrow could mean a three-way tie if India clinch their remaining two matches on Wednesday and Thursday. The net run rate would come into play in such a scenario.

The match assumes significance for both Sri Lanka and New Zealand, who have four points from two wins. The teams would be looking not only for a win but also at improving their net run rate which will become crucial in the case of a tie.

Sri Lanka have defeated New Zealand in both their earlier matches in this series and will naturally have a psychological edge. Except for the debacle against India, they have been the most consistent side in this tournament performing well both with bat and ball.

Sri Lanka have a formidable batting line-up that would be out to prove that the dramatic collapse against India was just an aberration. The hosts had made a remarkable comeback from 27-4 to defeat New Zealand by five wickets in their previous match and the batsmen will be required to show such character and discipline again, now that the stakes are much higher.

Skipper Sanath Jayasuriya has been very consistent in this tournament and he can be depended upon to give another fiery start. Mahela Jayawardene has been totally out of touch and Sri Lanka might replace him in tomorrow's game with Avishka Gunawardene who did not play the game against India.

Marvan Atapattu, Russel Arnold, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Kumara Sangakkara and Suresh Perera have all made useful contributions with the bat and they will need to fire in unison tomorrow.

As usual Muthiah Muralitharan will be the key to the Sri Lankan bowling. The wily off-spinner has troubled the Kiwis considerably in the previous matches and the hosts will once again rely on him to give them the vital breakthroughs.

Muralitharan has got able support from Kumar Dharmasena who bowled quite well against the Indians and is very good at restraining batsmen. Veteran Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando will spearhead the pace attack while Jayasuriya and Arnold will also chip in with their spin bowling.

New Zealand have been boosted with the recovery of their captain Stephen Fleming who is expected to play tomorrow after missing two matches.

The Kiwis must be rueing their chances when they let off Sri Lanka from a winning position in the previous game. They cannot afford any similar slip-offs this time.

Nathan Astle will be the key to a healthy total for New Zealand. He has so far delivered in this series and will be expected to come up with another fine innings tomorrow.

Opener Mathew Sinclair, Jacob Oram, Craig McMillan and Chris Harris will also need to contribute substantially with the bat to carve out a win for New Zealand. The Kiwis' fate could depend much on how the batsmen tackle Muralitharan. They might plan to see off the spin wizard and go after the other bowlers, who, however, are no novices either. It remains to be seen what strategy New Zealand plan for tomorrow.

Kyle Mills and Darryl Tuffy bowled a fine line in the previous match against Sri Lanka and with Dion Nash back in the side, the New Zealand bowling attack is very sound. Left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori is among the wickets in this series and he has been economical too.

The teams (from):

Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Kumar Sangakkara, Russel Arnold, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Dharmasena, Chaminda Vaas, Dulip Liyanage, Avishka Gunawardena, Chamara Silva, Suresh Perera, Dilhara Fernando and Dinusha Fernando.

New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Mathew Sinclair, Craig McMillan, Chris Harris, Adam Parore, Lou Vincent, Daniel Vettori, Dion Nash, Jacob Oram, Daryl Tuffey, Kyle Mills, Grand Bradburn and James Franklin.