Sri Lanka destroyed Bangladesh by a huge margin. Despite the victory, this was more of a Bangladesh defeat than a Sri Lankan victory. The Bangladesh team put up a dismal show and were no where close to the form they displayed against India. The bowlers were not consistent and the fielding was of poor quality to say the least. So many direct hits were missed and catches dropped. Besides, Bashar backed this up further with some poor captaincy. The 300+ total was too daunting for the young line up and Bangladesh was never rally in the chase. All in all a shabby performance from Bangladesh, certainly not super-8 quality.As for Sri Lanka Chamara Silva could be the player to watch. He has a very calm demeanor, but can strike the ball extremely well. He could be a dangerous batsman in the middle and slog overs. Jaywardene continues to struggle and should probably cede the number 3 slot to Sangakkara. Jayasuriya, despite his poor fitness, is still the prize wicket at top of the order. As for the Sri Lankan bowling, Malinga was impressive today consistently clocking 145+, yet extremely accurate. Vaas on the other hand was in the 120+ at best. The rest of the bowling was hardly tested in this outing since the Bangladesh top order more or less crumbled.
India should beat Sri Lanka to earn a spot in the super-8. If they don’t, then they don’t deserve a spot in super-8 either. In the two outings thus far Sri Lanka, hasn’t really been stretched. India on the other hand has tasted defeat and is in a do-or-die predicament. The circumstances set the stage for an exciting clash between India and Sri Lanka on Fri.
Pakora Korner 