The Hindu : Front Page : Edge-of-the-seat World Cup excitement across Sri Lanka

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Saturday, Apr 28, 2007
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Edge-of-the-seat World Cup excitement across Sri Lanka

B. Muralidhar Reddy

GOOD WISHES: A cricket fan holds a lamp in front of a portrait of the Sri Lankan cricket team during a blessing ceremony at a temple in Colombo on Friday. Sri Lanka plays Australia in the World Cup final in Barbados on Saturday. — PHOTO: AP

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has reached Barbados to cheer his country's cricket team at the World Cup final on Saturday, even as his country awaits with expectation the "mother of all matches."

Its cricket team reaching the final is a cause for joy in the strife-ridden country. Everyone is agreed that the team's performance has provided much-needed relief to the common people, at least in the short term.

Cricket has a huge following in Sri Lanka and it is one of the few uniting factors in an otherwise bruised nation.

Life in much of Sri Lanka is expected to come to a standstill on the day of the big match. Seeking to cash in on the enthusiasm, several companies have arranged to erect giant screens for people to watch the action live. The state-run television, Rupavahini, has erected a screen outside Parliament. The faithful have organised prayer conferences to seek blessings for the team's victory.

Even the Tamil Tigers are ardent followers. A day after Monday's abortive attempt on the Palaly air base, in a cheeky statement they announced that there would no fighting on Tuesday because of the day's match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

To defeat defending champion Australia, Sri Lanka will need to surmount many odds. The Australians, under Ricky Ponting, have won every game in this edition of the tournament by a convincing margin. They defeated Sri Lanka by seven wickets in their Super Eight encounter - a match Murali and Vaas did not feature in, for tactical reasons.

Australia has not lost a World Cup match since 1999, when Pakistan inflicted a 10-run defeat on Steve Waugh's men. Australia, of course, went on to win the tournament, and four years later bagged its third World Cup with a victory over India in the 2003 final.

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