Must wingame for Sri Lanka

Will Murali be third time lucky?:

Elmo Rodrigopulle

The Sri Lankan cricketers should not be downhearted, but go hard at the Indians when they take the field in the third of five one-day internationals is called play in a day-nighter at the R. Premadasa Stadium today.

True they have already lost two. But that does not mean that everything is lost. They have it in them to come back and undo the opponents like they did in Pakistan. This is a must win game for Sri Lanka.

The Lankans showed better improvement in the second game, and now it is up to them to take heart from that and move ahead. What they must do is believe in themselves and then the pieces will fall right.

Not only will the Lankans be looking for a victory, they will also be hoping that champion spinner Muttiah Muralitheran will get it over and done by scalping two Indians and pocketing the one-day bowling record. He now has 501 and it would be interesting to see who the Indians batsmen he will scalp because they too will go into the record.

In the first two games the Indians looked determined not to allow Murali the record, like did the Aussies in Australia when he was looking to go past Shane Warne's Test bowling record.

In the first game he had one and went wicketless in the second although he gave the batsmen many anxious moments in bowling his ten. It is hoped that he will make that dream a reality today. And when that happens all hell will break loose, like when he went past Warne.

To the game and Mahela Jayawardena would be asking the one above to help him beat Dhoni to the toss. The toss is very vital because the team batting first will have the advantage of being able to dictate terms.

One-day cricket is all about bowling wicket to wicket, fielding brilliantly and batting sensibly. Pacemen Kulasekera and Dilhara Fernando who replaces Thilina Thushara Mirando should not pitch too short or overpitch and give the width for the Indian openers to thrash them.

Sachin Tendulkar has been cruelly undone by some poor umpiring. He must see that ball hits bat and not pad. He is due for a big score and this could be it. Virender Senwag, Gautaum Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh and captain Dhoni are all terrific batsmen if allowed to prosper. Early wickets are what is important for Sri Lanka if they are to stall the opponents from making a formidable total. Grabbing the half chances and restricting the batsmen are very important.

Spinners Muttiah Muralitheran and Ajantha Mendis have bowled the middle overs very economically. The same is required from the pacemen.

As for the Lankan batting, openers Tillekeratne Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya must be a wee bit cautious early on until they get a feel of the pace of the wicket and the movement. They must be watchful of the traps in the field placing.

Now that Jayawardena has found touch, it will do his game and lift the spirits of the batsmen following if he bats in his normal number four slot.

Kumar Sangakkara and Thilina Kandamby will come good. In the previous game had Kandamby been a bit more enterprising, he could have notched up his maiden one-day hundred and also steered Lanka to victory.

It is inexplicable the failures of Chamara Kapugedera and Farveez Maharoof. Kapugedera can be devastating, but seems to be taking it a bit too easy.

With several other batsmen nudging the selectors, especially Indika de Saram, another failure and the selectors will not be playing fair if they persist with him. Maharoof has the ability of turning out into being one of the best all rounders in both versions of the game.

Why he does not believe in the tremendous potential in him and play that way will always remain a mystery. Someone ought to tell him.

A nauseating aspect in both teams Sri Lanka and India, is the fondness for batsmen to get run out. Batsmen get run out because they tend to lose their mental faculties for a moment.

Batsmen look stupid when they are run out.

The wicket looked a good one in the first game and it is hoped that this one too will play true giving batsmen and bowlers equal opportunity.

Also if the game is to be competitive then good umpiring is essential.
