Sangakkara happy in unfamiliar home

Despite being one of three nations hosting the mega event Sri Lanka find themselves as much as in the same situation as Canada when Kumar Sangakkara goes out to toss with Delhi-born Canadian skipper Ashish Bagai in their opening World Cup match at Hambantota.

None of the 15 players in the Sri Lanka squad have played at this venue before and they have no first hand information of how the pitch is going to behave and what the conditions are going to be especially under lights. It is in the context of such adversity that Sri Lanka take on Canada.

"We trained on the ground and there doesn't seem to be any issues," said Sangakkara looking ahead of Sunday's game. "We need to play well whatever the conditions that we get. It looks a magnificent ground it looks beautiful and the wicket looks fantastic. So conditions will be good for cricket tomorrow.

"The guys have been practicing here and they are happy the way conditions are. It'll be beautiful for cricket and we are all amazed at what a transformation Hambantota has gone through. We will enjoy everything about this ground. Whatever happens with the toss, we need to be strong mentally whether we bowl or bat first we need to do it better than the opposition," said Sangakkara.

"I think our job is to try and win the first game. It's important to build it up step by step. You have to take it game by game. You can't change what other people say about us whether they say that we are good enough to win the tournament or whatever," he said.

"We know we are a good team to compete in this tournament and that's the most important thing rather than worry about anything else. Our focus is on tomorrow's game. India and Bangladesh are good sides, especially India. They are the best ODI unit in the world and most people expect them to win the tournament."

Not only do Sri Lanka have to overcome the alien conditions that they will confront at Hambantota, but for the team overall it has been a tough four days following the deaths of manager Anura Tennekoon's father and team member Chamara Silva's sister. Silva apparently will miss today's game.

"We feel very much for them and at the same time these things bring us closer together," said Sangakkara. "We just need to concentrate on playing good cricket because they be will wanting us to do well."

Leading his country for the first time in a World Cup, Sangakkara said that it was "a great privilege and an honour not just to captain a World Cup team, but to captain this particular team". "They are a wonderful bunch of guys and the best we have in Sri Lanka."

Sri Lanka is likely to go in with a two spin, two pace attack with all-rounder Angelo Mathews playing the role of third seamer.

The team received a timely morale booster with the arrival of Aravinda de Silva, Sri Lanka's World Cup hero of their 1996 triumph and present chairman of selectors, at the team's practice session on Friday.

"Aravinda just came to express his confidence in the team. His advice is extremely valuable at all times and he's a very shrewd thinker on the game and a fantastic cricketer on his own right," said Sangakkara. "It's good to have him not just as the chairman of selectors but once in a while just talk to the team. His job has been a tough one especially in the light of decisions he had to make. But he was very forthright in his selections."

Sangakkara was wary of Canada and said that you cannot take them lightly. "If you take the warm-up game they played against England, they lost only by 16 runs. Every team raises their game when the World Cup comes and we need to raise our game and if we do that we can do well." 

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Sri Lanka open against sparky minnows

Big Picture

Sri Lanka begin their World Cup campaign - the first in Asia since they stunned the world 16 years ago - against Group A minnows Canada. With a team forged around much of the same group of players that made it to the final in the Caribbean last time around, Sri Lanka start as one of the tournament's fancied sides. Canada - a team of immigrants, expats and five home-grown former Under-19 stars - have had a good run in the warm-up against Netherlands and England but will need a World Cup miracle to beat Kumar Sangakkara's side.

Sri Lanka's home record is imposing but the surroundings of Hambantota are almost as unfamiliar to them as they are to the visitors. A new pitch at a new stadium, the captains have been keen to praise the look of both. The state of pitches at this tournament is already shaping up into a bone of contention, and set against the fiasco at Eden Gardens, the Sri Lankan board should be credited for getting the stadium ready in time.

The last time these two met in the World Cup, Canada slumped to the lowest World Cup score in history. The entire cricketing infrastructure in Canada has improved since then, with players centrally contracted for the first time and big sponsors like Reebok jumping on board. Upsets have been hard-wired out of the format for this World Cup, and with the ICC taking it a step further next time by expelling Associate nations altogether, a competitive show from Canada would do wonders to the minnows' case for inclusion.

Form guide

(Most recent first)

Sri Lanka: WWLWW
Canada: LWWWL

Pitch and conditions

The Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium has not yet hosted a full international match so the pitch in Hambantota is something of an unknown quantity. There were concerns when the pitch produced a low-scoring 'A' match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, but at the time the curator insisted his pitch was not to blame. After practicing at the ground Sangakkara was happy, saying "the wicket looked fantastic and the conditions were beautiful for cricket". The Sri Lankan weather has been anything but for recent series and there were a few clouds circling on the eve of the game, which could mean an early outing for Duckworth and Lewis, in their fourth World Cup.

Watch out for…

There is still something about the 50-over format that promotes unqualified utility players, who are unable to hold their place in either discipline. England have Luke Wright, while Australia have John Hastings. Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews is the model the rest are chasing. In the last 12 months Mathews has averaged 54.50 with the bat, 32.90 with the ball, and has been a lynchpin behind the celebrated duo of Sangakkara and Mehela Jayawardene.

After his exploits against England, there is one Canadian that everyone will be looking out for: Gun batsman Rizwan Cheema. The Pakistan-born's ODI strike-rate of 119.4 beats even Shahid Afridi for crazed slugging. Faced with Lasith Malinga's slingers and Muttiah Muralitharan his task is less than straightforward, but alongside the youngsters in the side and captain Ashish Bagai, he could be the prime contributor of runs.

Team news

Sri Lanka's top-order is settled and the only contention is over the last bowling place. Ajantha Mendis' star has faded as his mystery unravelled with exposure so he competes with the Rangana Herath for the second spinner's role. If the damp conditions prompt another paceman, however, Thisara Perera might come up on the blindside to take the final bowling spot.

Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt & wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Chamara Kapugedera, 6 Thilan Samaraweera, 7 Angelo Mathews, 8 Dilhara Fernando, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Lasith Malinga

Canada have banked on their youngsters to support their array of more experience imports and will be hoping Hiral Patel and Nitish Kumar can come good.

Canada (probable): 1 John Davison, 2 Hiral Patel, 3 Nitish Kumar, 4 Ashish Bagai (capt & wk), 5 Jimmy Hansra, 6 Rizwan Cheema, 7 Zubin Surkari, 8 Khurram Chohan, 9 Balaji Rao, 10 Henry Osinde, 11 Harvir Baidwan

Try picking the XIs for tomorrow's game by playing Team Selector.

Stats and trivia

• The last time these teams met at the World Cup, Canada were bowled out for 36 and swept aside by nine wickets in a match that lasted a mere 23.2 overs - the quickest in World Cup history.
• Since making successive hundreds against Pakistan and Bangladesh in Karachi in June 2008, Kumar Sangakkara has played 59 matches, and made 1970 runs at 37.16, without ever passing three figures.
• Canada's opening batsman, and producer of one of World Cup cricket's most dazzling centuries - John Davison - is, at 40, the oldest player in the tournament.
  Quotes
  "Hard-hitting. I like to hit the ball... Out of the park"
  Rizwan Cheema gives a description, and warning, about the kind of player he is
  "You can't change what other people say about us whether they say that we are good enough to win the tournament or whatever."
  Kumar Sangakkara doesn't like the 'favourites' tag.

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A lot to prove for both teams

Big Picture

Both New Zealand and Kenya have been through difficult patches in the recent past and will open their World Cup campaigns with plenty to prove. Kenya come across as the whipping boys of the group, along with Canada, but a demoralised New Zealand are ripe for the picking. New Zealand have come off a humiliating loss to India in their warm-up game and three consecutive bilateral ODI series defeats at the hands of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, so the need to show some intent is pressing.

New Zealand have gone from being one of the sides that was always there and thereabouts to the forgotten men of international competitions but given the format of this World Cup, they have almost no excuse to not make it to the quarter-finals.

The World Cup is Daniel Vettori's last international series as captain; he would like to leave a lasting impression and he has the personnel to help him do that. The middle order is New Zealand's marshmallow and if they can firm up that section, they should be able to pull off a decent all-round performance. They will be the team the minnows are targetting in this group and in order to restore self belief they could do with a solid win under their belts.

For Kenya, a win over any side will do and beating a full member will be punching above their weight. A close defeat to the Netherlands in their second warm-up illustrated what they are capable of with both bat and ball. The top five batsmen are all capable of getting big scores with Seren Waters leading the line-up. Their string of medium pacers have been economical and effective and if they can capitalise on the mentorship they've been receiving from people like the Kirsten brothers and Jonty Rhodes, they may have a rabbit or two to pull out of the hat.

Form guide

(Most recent first)

New Zealand: WLLLW Kenya: WLWLL

Pitch and conditions

The Chennai pitch worried South Africa captain Graeme Smith despite his team cantering to an eight-wicket win in a warm-up game against Zimbabwe last week. There doesn't appear to be too much life in it, for either the seamers or the spinners and the batsmen are the ones who could benefit the most. It is likely to be a hot day in Chennai, but the heat should be tempered somewhat by some cloud cover.

Watch out for…

One of the most exciting young batsmen to come out of Kenya in a while, Alex Obanda is a strokeplayer, who will probably open the innings. His shots are as flamboyant as his frosted hairstyle, and Kenya will look to him as the ideal foil for more circumspect opening partner, Waters, to attack the new ball and score boundaries with the field up.

Injuries and dwindling confidence have taken some of the spark out of Jacob Oram's gameplay in recent times, but there is no doubting his talent and if New Zealand are going to get out of their slump and be serious contenders in this tournament, they need a fit and firing Oram in the lower middle order. He didn't have much impact in New Zealand's warm-ups, scoring 17 runs in two innings and picking up two expensive wickets, and a return to form is well overdue.

Team news

Offspinner Nathan McCullum spent Thursday and Friday night in hospital after being admitted with high fever. He participated in a light training session on Saturday but remains a doubtful starter. Luke Woodcock may play in his place but that would keep a batsman out of the side. Should New Zealand opt for the extra batsmen, like Jamie How, they may find themselves a bowler short.

New Zealand (probable): 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendan McCullum, 3 Jessie Ryder, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 James Franklin, 6 Scott Stryis, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Luke Woodcock, 10 Kyle Mills, 11 Tim Southee

Kenya have had a fairly settled unit in recent times, and without any injuries to worry them, the playing XI practically picks itself. With both the spinning Ngoche brothers likely to play on what should be a helpful surface, the one question may be who to pick between Tanmay Mishra and Rakep Patel, as both have impressed in the middle order.

1 Seren Waters, 2 Alex Obanda, 3 Collins Obuya, 4 Tanmay Mishra/Rakep Patel, 5 Steve Tikolo, 6 Maurice Ouma (wk), 7 Jimmy Kamande (capt), 8 Thomas Odoyo, 9 James Ngoche, 10 Shem Ngoche, 11 Nehemiah Odhiambo

Try picking the XIs for tomorrow's game by playing Team Selector.

Stats and trivia

• Kenya and New Zealand have met just once before in World Cups, with New Zealand handing out a 148-run thrashing at Gros Islet in 2007.
• The second-oldest man at the World Cup, after Canada's John Davison, Steve Tikolo is just a shade under 40. He's also his country's leading batsman, having scored more runs and more hundreds and fifties than any other player to represent Kenya.
• To say that New Zealand haven't had the greatest time on the subcontinent lately is to put it mildly, as they slumped to 11 straight losses in the region, before going down to Pakistan at home.
• Jesse Ryder had a quiet 2010 thanks to a couple of nagging injuries, but he's started 2011 with a bang, blazing to a hundred to set up a consolation win over Pakistan in the sixth ODI at Eden Park. Another New Zealand batsman in unexpectedly good nick is James Franklin, who's scored three half-centuries in his last six innings, narrowly missing out on a hundred in Bangalore in December.
  Quotes
  "Any team that takes us lightly will do so at their own peril. We practiced very hard for this after our training camp in India and the mood in the camp is as good as it can be."
  Jimmy Kamande is confident that his side will not be pushovers
  "We can't take them lightly because they are an unknown quantity, we do not know much about them"
  Daniel Vettori warns against complacency on the eve of his side's first game
  
  
   

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Sehwag and Kohli sink Bangladesh in opener

There was no reprise of the 2007 upset at Port of Spain in the opening game of this World Cup. Instead, Virender Sehwag and Virat Kohli gave evidence of the havoc this Indian batting line-up can create during centuries that demoralised Bangladesh's bowlers. Shakib Al Hasan's men failed to maintain their composure in the grandest match of their lives and conceded a total beyond the reach of their batting abilities.

There was wisdom in Bangladesh choosing to chase - the previous 12 day-night matches at the Shere Bangla were won by the team batting second - but their bowlers were wayward on a slow pitch that kept low and had loopy bounce not conducive to shot-making. Shakib wanted to keep India below 260 when he put them in because of the dew factor later in the evening. He watched the target surge past that as Sehwag and Kohli, who justified his captain's decision to leave out Suresh Raina, dismantled the attack in front of a shell-shocked crowd and powered India to 370.

Bangladesh, however, did not go quietly. Faced with an impossible chase, Imrul Kayes attacked from the outset after which Tamim Iqbal and Shakib took charge. They set off at a sprint, swinging fearlessly, edging luckily, and brought cheer to their supporters. What Bangladesh failed to do, though, was sustain the aggression for as long as Sehwag did, and the asking-rate soared irreversibly out of reach.

With a withering back-foot drive, Sehwag had slammed the first ball of the tournament to the cover boundary, the opening move of his maiden century against Bangladesh silencing a boisterous Mirpur crowd. Shafiul Islam had given Sehwag too much width, and in his second over he strayed twice on to Sachin Tendulkar's pads with dire consequences. His day would not get better and he conceded 69 off seven.

India raced to 36 after four overs, forcing Shakib to turn to his premier spinner, Abdur Razzak, in the fifth. Razzak looped the ball into Sehwag from round the wicket, following the batsman and cramping him for room as he tried to hit inside out through the off side. Sehwag had scored 12 off his first six balls and 13 off his next 24.

Bangladesh were listless, though, as Sehwag regained his touch and never lost it again, but they also had some good fortune. A mix-up, during which both Tendulkar and Sehwag were ball-watching, left both batsmen at one end and the Mirpur crowd found its voice again.

Sehwag, however, continued piercing gaps and hit the tournament's first six, hoisting Razzak over wide long-on to reach fifty off 45 balls. With Gautam Gambhir, Sehwag added 83 to build on the opening stand of 69. While Sehwag used muscle, Gambhir played with precision - dabbing, pushing and chipping into gaps. His dismissal for a run-a-ball 39, bowled by a straight one from Mahmudullah, was against the run of play.

The exceptional feature of Kohli's innings was his driving. On a surface this slow, he reached the pitch of the ball, gathering momentum with a forward thrust of his body, and drove crisply through the off side with a whip of his wrists. He did it against pace and spin, scoring effortlessly at more than a run a ball. In the 33rd over, Kohli drove Naeem Islam twice to the cover boundary and pulled him behind square, placing the ball just wide of the fielders each time. India took their batting Powerplay after the mandatory ball change and scored 48 for 0 during the fielding restrictions.

At one stage Sehwag, who had Gambhir running for him because of an injury, had a shot at a double-century. He fell in the 48th over, though, almost making good his pledge to bat through the innings. Kohli continued to motor towards a hundred in his first World Cup match and got there off the penultimate ball of the innings, possibly having secured his spot for the rest of the tournament.

The pitch quickened in the evening, making shot-making easier, and the dew greased the outfield, making the ball harder to grip. But Bangladesh's bowlers had conceded too much ground for their batsmen to regain. They tried, though, and the initial assault on the Indian bowlers was fierce.

The highlight of that brief blitz was the attack on Sreesanth. Kayes edged, flicked, pulled and drove him for boundaries, and a wayward wide contributed to Bangladesh taking 24 runs off the fifth over. They were 51 for 0. Kayes then tried to force the slower pace of Munaf Patel, who replaced Sreesanth, through the off side and played on, ending the opening partnership at 56.

Zaheer Khan's control and the introduction of spin resulted in an increase in dot balls and a reduction in boundaries, and by the half-way stage the asking-rate was already 9.36. Tamim and Shakib completed aggressive half-centuries and the rest of the batsmen also struck the ball fluently during a heartening display. Victory, however, had already escaped them. Bangladesh will hope to reproduce this batting effort in a match in which their bowlers get their act together. 

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Shakib rues profligate fast bowlers

Shakib Al Hasan's half-century was to no avail as the bowlers had leaked too many runs

Related Links

Players/Officials: Shakib Al Hasan

Matches: Bangladesh v India at Dhaka

Series/Tournaments: ICC Cricket World Cup

Teams: Bangladesh

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan has held his fast bowlers responsible for making his decision to insert India backfire spectacularly.

"I thought we could have bowled better" Shakib - downcast but not desolate - said. "We bowled too many boundary balls, and that cost us the game."

The opening ball of the World Cup, short and wide from Shafiul Islam, yielded a boundary as Virender Sehwag crunched it through extra cover. Shafiul went on to concede eight more runs in his first over, including a four off the last ball. By the end of the third over, the Indian openers had hit six boundaries and raced to 32. It led to the introduction of spin in the fifth over.

"I thought we had a better chance of winning the game chasing," Shakib said repeatedly. "It would have been a different game had we got two early wickets. That was our plan. Our fast bowlers didn't execute the plan, that was the main problem.

"I thought our fast bowlers have been bowling really well for the last 12 months. Today wasn't their day but hopefully they will come back strongly."

He said he was satisfied, however, with the effort with the bat despite his team finishing 87 runs short of the target. "The plan was to bat properly, playing cricketing shots. We knew the wicket was good, and if one of Tamim (Iqbal) and Junaid (Siddique) had kept going, we could have got a very good total.

"That was our plan, and I thought we executed our plan very well. We didn't try to hit too many slogs, we played all cricketing shots, and got close to 300. I thought we batted really well and sensibly."

He refused to be drawn into discussing the non-selection of Mohammad Ashraful, who has spent more time on the bench than in the playing XI under his captaincy, and to a pointed question on whether he had a problem with the senior players, his response was a cryptic and dismissive "no comments."

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'I didn't think about the double-century' - Sehwag

Virender Sehwag might have taken extra care to make sure he batted deep into India's innings at Mirpur, but when it comes to his press conferences, middle overs continue to remain conspicuous in their absence. He talks like he bats, and after his 175 - his longest one-day innings in terms of runs, balls faced, and overs elapsed - his reaction was: "I am happy that at least once in my career I have batted 47 overs." That was followed by a warning: "I was planning to bat 50 overs. I couldn't do that, but hopefully I will do so in coming games."

That came moments after a similarly forthright show at the presentation ceremony, where he said, "Everyone did well, other than Sreesanth." He also said this was a grudge match after India's defeat to Bangladesh in the 2007 World Cup, something not many like to admit. He also maintained that Bangladesh are not a good Test side. "They can compete in ODIs, but today they could not."

Inside the press-conference room, the fun continued. The mix-up with Sachin Tendulkar, which resulted in the latter's run-out, was delightfully explained. "We discussed we will take it easy on singles," Sehwag said. "He was calling, and I was not listening, and I was looking at the ball, yeah. For a fraction of a second I thought I had made a mistake, but you know when I went to the dressing room, he said, 'It's okay. What's important is to win the game for the country. It's not important who is performing.'"

In Christchurch, in 2009, when Tendulkar retired hurt on 163 at the end of the 45th over, Sehwag told him he had missed out on a double-century. At 175 in the 47th over, Sehwag said he himself didn't think of that mark. "Not at all. When he came back not out, eight or nine overs were left. When I came back, three overs were left, and I still had 25 to get. I would have had to play 15 out of those 18 balls, so I wasn't thinking of the double-hundred. My target was to bat 50 overs, no matter how much I score."

His own innings, Sehwag termed the most satisfactory "as far as overs are concerned". It was obviously a conscious effort to play a longer innings, and take fewer chances. One of the bigger challenges of such innings is the middle overs, when fields are spread. Sehwag said his plan was to concentrate on taking singles. "It was easy for me to rotate the strike. I think I hit a six on 49, and after that till 75 or 80 I was just rotating the strike because I knew I had to play 30-40 overs, and if I do that I would get a hundred. Still my strike rate was more than 100."

There was praise for the other centurion, Virat Kohli, and not just hollow praise, but analytical appreciation. "Whenever we spoke in the middle, we told each other to not throw our wickets away. I still remember against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy [in Centurion, in 2009], he was playing well, but he played a shot straight to long-off. After that he has scored six hundreds. Sometimes a little nudge is enough for some people. He is a quick learner, and a mature batsman."

The last question to him was if he feels any pressure from the pundits that he is most crucial to India's prospects in the World Cup. Sehwag's dead-pan reply was, "My job is to play and make runs." 

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