The Hindu : Sport : Tough task awaits Ireland

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Wednesday, Apr 18, 2007
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Tough task awaits Ireland

Sri Lanka not taking the Irish challenge lightly

BACK IN FOCUS: Lasith Malinga may return from injury to prove his fitness ahead of the semifinals. — PHOTO: AFP

ST. GEORGE'S (Grenada): Ireland's hope for a farewell victory over Sri Lanka at the World Cup looks slim.

Muttiah Muralitharan and the experienced Chaminda Vaas are likely to return for Wednesday's Super Eight match at the Grenada National Stadium and could easily tear through an Ireland batting line-up still inexperienced.

Malinga could be back

If that wasn't bad enough, Lasith Malinga — who topped the tournament bowling charts before damaging ankle ligaments almost two weeks ago — may return from injury to prove his fitness for the semifinals.

``If they want to have a go against Ireland, it won't be that tough a game,'' Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said. ``They can easily come back into the groove before the semifinal.''

A workout against Ireland may be just what Sri Lanka needs to rebuild momentum after a heavy defeat at the hands of Australia on Monday.

The first step was making sure the team got to the semifinals with a fully fit squad.

``We couldn't sustain another injury like what happened to Lasith,'' Jayawardene said. ``These guys are key players and, going into the business end of the tournament, if these guys are not fit, we will look back and think, `why did we not make those decisions?'''

While the dangers of Muralitharan and his `doosra' are well known, Vaas took a record 23 wickets in a single World Cup in 2003.

No cakewalk

However, even with a full-strength team on show, Sri Lanka must not take victory against Ireland for granted.

Ireland, which is at its first World Cup, beat Pakistan and tied with Zimbabwe to finish ahead of both and reach the Super Eight. It then beat Test nation Bangladesh by 74 runs on Sunday to cause another shock.

Because Ireland has beaten two Test-playing nations — Pakistan and Bangladesh — its formal status will change from a temporary one-day international-playing nation to permanent.

While Ireland's batting line-up is modest, William Porterfield hit a stubborn 85 to set up victory over Bangladesh and fellow opener Jeremy Bray 115 not out against Zimbabwe.

Boyd Rankin and Kyle McCallan have a respectable 21 wickets between them in the Caribbean and it was some rash shot-making against this attack that cost Bangladesh, which had exceeded expectations by beating India and South Africa at the tournament.

``They are a very strong side — you can't take any of these sides lightly,'' Jayawardene said. ``Ireland and Bangladesh have been upsetting a lot of the big names and every game is very important.''

The teams (from): Ireland: Trent Johnston (capt.), Jeremy Bray, William Porterfield, Eoin Morgan, Niall O'Brien (wk), Andre Botha, Kevin O'Brien, Andrew White, Kyle McCallan, Dave Langford-Smith, Boyd Rankin, Kenneth Carroll, Peter Gillespie, John Mooney and Paul Mooney.

Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (capt.), Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Chamara Silva, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Russel Arnold, Lasith Malinga, Farveez Maharoof, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando, Nuwan Kulasekara, Malinga Bandara and Marvan Atapattu.

Umpires: Billy Doctrove and Mark Benson.

TV umpire: Daryl Harper. Match referee: Chris Broad.

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