Past records might suggest Pakistan have an edge – they have beaten Sri Lanka in each of their six encounters in the World Cups and have won their previous five games at the R Premadasa – but that will count for little. The two sides have not faced each other in cricket’s showpiece tournament since 1992, and the Premadasa has undergone extensive redevelopment. What will help Pakistan, though, is the relative lack of controversy surrounding the current team, a low-profile lead-up and the confidence of a recent series win, in New Zealand, behind them.
Sri Lanka’s advantage is that most of their players have had a taste of how the new track will fare during the domestic limited-over tournament held in January. Traditionally, this has been a bat-first venue, especially in day-night games where the team chasing has won only one of the past 13 matches, but it remains to be seen how the re-laid pitch fares .
Records will Broken in this Match:
1) Muttiah Muralitharan needs one more wicket to move past Wasim Akram’s tally of 55 wickets to become the second highest wicket-taker in World Cups.
2) Sri Lanka have never beaten Pakistan in six World Cup matches, though the two haven’t met in the competition since 1992.
3) One more stumping will take Skipper Kumara Sangakkara’s tally to eight, moving ahead of Adam Gilchrist and Moin Khan, with whom he current shares the record for most stumpings.
4) This is Afridi’s fourth World Cup, but he is yet to make a half-century.
Probable Teams:
Pakistan (probable): 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Kamran Akmal (wk), 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Shahid Afridi (capt), 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Abdur Rehman, 11 Shoaib Akhtar
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 Thisara Perera, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Ajantha Mendis, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan
Match facts
Saturday February 26, 2011 (day/night)
Start time 14:30 local (09:00 GMT, 2pm PST)
Sri Lanka’s advantage is that most of their players have had a taste of how the new track will fare during the domestic limited-over tournament held in January. Traditionally, this has been a bat-first venue, especially in day-night games where the team chasing has won only one of the past 13 matches, but it remains to be seen how the re-laid pitch fares .
Records will Broken in this Match:
1) Muttiah Muralitharan needs one more wicket to move past Wasim Akram’s tally of 55 wickets to become the second highest wicket-taker in World Cups.
2) Sri Lanka have never beaten Pakistan in six World Cup matches, though the two haven’t met in the competition since 1992.
3) One more stumping will take Skipper Kumara Sangakkara’s tally to eight, moving ahead of Adam Gilchrist and Moin Khan, with whom he current shares the record for most stumpings.
4) This is Afridi’s fourth World Cup, but he is yet to make a half-century.
Probable Teams:
Pakistan (probable): 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Kamran Akmal (wk), 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Shahid Afridi (capt), 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Abdur Rehman, 11 Shoaib Akhtar
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 Thisara Perera, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Ajantha Mendis, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan
Match facts
Saturday February 26, 2011 (day/night)
Start time 14:30 local (09:00 GMT, 2pm PST)
