Twenty20 World Cup / Andrew Hughes / 03 June 2009 /

Why is a team boasting such limited-overs specialists as Jayasuriya, Sangakkara, Dilshan, Muralitharan and Malinga trading as big as they are, asks Andrew Hughes. They certainly have the pedigree to at least make the semis....

Sri Lanka seem to have slipped under the radar in the tournament winner market, their current odds of [10.5] rather standing out. Perhaps this is due to the fact that, for a team with such a good limited overs record, they have tended to underperform in Twenty20 since its inception. Perhaps the fact that they will start the competition in the 'Group of Death' with Australia and West Indies has also played a part. But when you look at their squad in more depth, there is every reason to believe that those odds represent excellent value.

Key Batsman

Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene make up a batting order of immense experience and guile. But the wild card for Sri Lanka is Tillekeratne Dilshan. His incredible displays of six hitting for Delhi Daredevils were amongst the highlights of the IPL. With Jayasuriya not quite the force he was and the other two senior batsmen likely to be more circumspect, it will fall to Dilshan to provide the fireworks.

Key Bowler

The prospect of watching spinners Mutiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis operating in tandem is a mouth-watering one, but it is Lasith Malinga who will be expected to do the most damage. The wild-haired slinger is an astonishing sight and his unplayable inswinging yorkers can wreak havoc in the closing overs, as countless teams in the IPL discovered to their cost.

Captain

Kumar Sangakkara has finally assumed the captaincy that had appeared to be his destiny since he first began to make a name for himself as a combative, intelligent international cricketer. He is likely to be a more aggressive and possibly more adventurous captain than the laid back Jayawardene and it will be fascinating to see how he fares.

Conclusion

It would be a major surprise if Sri Lanka were not to scramble out of their opening group along with Australia and from there, they have an excellent chance of making the semi-finals. Their only weakness appears to be that their batting is concentrated in the top four positions and an early collapse could expose a rather lengthy tail. But with Sangakkara's leadership, they are likely to be spirited and competitive and punters siding with the Sri Lankans are sure to get a good run for their money.

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>

:

:

:

?

: