Sri Lanka has some great names in their side such as Malinga, Dilshan, Jayawardene, Sangakkara, Kulasekera to help them come up with good performance. But, it is Malinga who holds the key in the bowling department, especially in this tournamaent, where the pitch has been assisting the seam bowlers. Jayawardene with his silky touches and free flow batting holds the key in the batting line-up. Their spin bowler, Ajantha Mendis is facing some fitness problems, which might force him to miss the game. It is going to be a huge setback for Sri Lanka, if his name is not mentioned in the playing eleven.
On the other hand, New Zealanders would be pleased not to see Mendis on the field, who can make life difficult for them, given the fact that they are not great players of such quality spin bowling. Brendan McCullum with his majestic century in the group stages would be high on confidence and look for a similar performance against the Lankans. But, there is a big difference between the Sri Lankan bowling attack and the Bangladesh attack, against whom the Kiwi opener showed his class. Other players such as Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Guptill and their skipper Ross Taylor need to chip in with major contributions if they are to to upset the hosts in their backyard.
There are going to be few battles within the game such as Taylor vs Mendis (if he plays), Malinga vs McCullum, Mills vs Dilshan etc.
Merinews Picks
