Pakistan vs Srilanka - T20 World Cup Final - Preview

After 11 days of fiercely fought competition, Sri Lanka and Pakistan will face each other in the all-Asian finals of the ICC World T20 and it promises to be an exciting final.

Pakistan had shocked the cricketing world by beating a champion-looking South African side and Sri Lanka easily overcame the West Indian challenge to enter the finals.

The Pakistanis will rely on the individual brilliance of Shahid Afridi, who has almost suddenly become their ‘go-to’ man in this tournament, but he will need support from the likes of Kamran Akmal, Younus Khan, Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul to deliver the goods. Akmal has done well ever since he was promoted to the opening slot, while Younus Khan has been Pakistan’s best scorer. Umar Gul’s bowling at the death will test the best of the Sri Lankan batsmen, while Ajmal’s spin has almost been unplayable and it will be interesting to see how the Sri Lankans go about batting against him.

For Sri Lanka, their main worry will be the lack of form that most batsmen – save T.Dilshan – have exhibited over the time of this tournament. Sanath Jayasuriya has almost forgotten his big hits and has looked like a pale shadow of his own past, while Kumar Sangakkara had begun well in the series but has seen his form go away over the last couple of games. Mahela Jayawardene is a little patchy, while Chamara Silva hasn’t yet shone on this stage.

Where the Lankans will be counting their stars is the magnificent bowling line-up, which has had most of the opposition guessing. In M.Muralitharan, they have a spinner who is miserly as one can get, while Lasith Malinga’s free ability to bowl yorkers has had him taking bucketful of wickets. However, it will be Ajantha Mendis’ four overs which will be watched very carefully, he is not only frugal but also a very wicket-taking option for the Lankans.

To me, there isn’t much to choose from between the two teams, the one that holds its nerves better should win the tournament. Pakistan, on their part will want to erase the memories of the previous time when they had lost to India by a very narrow margin in the last over of the game.

Source and Author: www.cricfever.com