Lion - Kiwi Battle To Start Off The 2010 T20 World Cup

Many predict that a score of 130 - 140 would be a challenging one, all though in T20 it seems ridiculous. New Zealand have done well in their practice matches where as Sri Lanka just played 1 practice match and lost it by 5 wickets to South Africa.

Other than Chamara Kapugedara and Sanatha Jayasuriya, none of the batsmen perform upto their standards. Neither the bowlers.

Anyway today is a new day and a new match to be played.

The following are my team predictions for todays game:

Sri Lanka  (Probable XI)

1. T.M Dilshan
2. Mahela Jayawardena
3. Kumar Sangakkara (C)(WK)
4. Dinesh Chandimal
5. Chamara Kapugedara
6. Sanath Jayasuriya
7. Angelo Mathews
8. Nuwan Kulasekara
9. Lasith Malinga
10. Muttiah Muralitharan
11. Ajantha Mendis

 
New Zealand (Probable XI)

1. Brendum McCallum 
2. Jessie Ryder
3. Martin Guptil
4. Ross Taylor
5. Scott Styris
6. Jacob Oram
7. Gerath Hopkins (WK)
8. Daniel Vettori (C)
9. Nethan McCallum
10. Kyle Mills
11. Shane Bond

The players whom I reckon will play a key role in today's match are Murali, Malinga, Mendis, Jayasuriya and Sangakkara for Sri Lanka. For New Zealand, it will be Vettori, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor and Nathan McCallum. The team which wins the toss will have to bat first in my opinion and get an idea about the pitch for its bowlers and bat sensibly. Any Score above 130 would be very competitive.

Match is scheduled to start at 7 PM Sri Lankan time and lets hope for a good match to start off the tournament. All the best Sangakkara and the Sri Lankan team. Hope you guys can repeat what you'll did in 2009 T20 World Cup.   

Author: Nimantha de Silva
              www.nimantha.com