Anil Kumble
The Oval is the place to be on Friday as I expect a real contest between the West Indies and Sri Lanka in the second semifinal of the World T20. The Windies will take the confidence of some really good results in the past at this venue, The Oval being their favourite ground in England. They did lose their last match here, to South Africa, but they ran them close and the difference was basically the fine bowling of young Parnell.
Chris Gayle, their skipper, hasnt fired since he sent Australia out of the tournament, but that means hes due for a big one. Maybe Friday will be his day, at least the Windies will be hoping so. The Windies though arent the one-man army they were thought to be when the tournament began. The experienced trio of Sarwan, Chanderpaul and Bravo has delivered as has Lendl Simmons, the Windies find of the tournament. Simmons had a none-too-impressive time in the series against England but in this tournament hes shown really good skill and I am certainly impressed with what he has to offer.
In fact in their Group match against the Sri Lankans, an inconsequential one as both teams had already qualified for the Super 8s, Simmons handled the Lankan spinners well, using the sweep, conventional and reverse, to good effect.
The Sri Lankans though, have grown from strength to strength and in the three Ms, Malinga, Murali and Mendis, they have a threesome who can defend most totals. Their batting may a little more varied in the sense there is only M involved, Mahela, but everything depends on how the top four of Dilshan, Jayasuriya, Sangakkara and Mahela go.
It is a top-heavy batting line-up and the Windies bowlers would have done their job if they were to get Sangakkara and Mahela batting in the first six overs. It all depends on which Windies attack turns up on the day. If they come out all aggression, as they did against India, their cause would be best served. They must try and bounce Sanath out early as the Lankan, who is a big match player, will take charge otherwise. Hes got to be unsettled with pace and bounce. Dilshan, on the other hand, can use the pace well, so the bowlers must mix it up.
It is this bounce that is normally available at The Oval that Sri Lanka must also take into consideration when they pick their eleven. I would like Maharoof to come in to the side in place of Udana, who had a fair game at Nottingham against the Kiwis, but then that was all but a typical Lankan pitch. Maharoof, with his height, can extract more bounce and should be preferred to Kulashekara too, who relies more on swing and the ability to skid the ball off the surface. Maharoof can also strengthen the lower middle order for the Lankans with his batting. Finally his greater experience should help in a high-pressure game like a semifinal always is.
Overall, despite Lankas all-win record thus far in the tournament, if I had to make a call, I would put it 55-45 in favour of the Windies, simply because the match is at The Oval.
HAWKEYE COMMUNICATIONS
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