SL vs NZ: Sri Lanka may exploit worn pitch with three spinners

MUMBAI: Sri Lanka may exploit a pitch used three days earlier and employ three specialist spinners for the second match in a row in Tuesday's World Cup semifinal against New Zealand in Colombo.

To New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori's consternation, the match will be played on the pitch used in last Saturday's quarterfinal against England.

"They told us we are playing on the same one as England which is very surprising for us," Vettori told a news conference on Monday. "We would have thought it is mandatory to prepare a fresh wicket, but obviously not."

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara said pace bowler Nuwan Kulasekara, who did not play against England, had performed well against New Zealand.

"Playing three spinners is a question we have to ask ourselves today. Nuwan Kulasekara has done exceptionally well against New Zealand every single time he has gone out there so he is a strong contender to play," he said.

"But the role of spinners seems to overshadow the role of pacers due to the matches being played in pitches where a lot of matches have been already played."

New Zealand have a good overall one-day record against Sri Lanka, due primarily to their home matches where green pitches and cool weather provide alien conditions for Asian teams.

The reverse will apply on Tuesday with heat, stifling humidity and a low, slow pitch.

To compound New Zealand's difficulties, Sri Lanka have the best-balanced attack in the tournament with Lasith Malinga's fast, slingy yorkers supplementing the spin attack.

MURALITHARAN DOUBT

Sri Lanka will decide in the morning whether or not to play Muttiah Muralitharan, who is suffering from knee and quadricep problems.

Sangakkara said there no question of resting Muralitharan in anticipation of a final in Mumbai on Saturday between the winners of Wednesday's clash between India and Pakistan.

But he said Sri Lanka still had plenty of spinning options if Muralitharan, who will retire from international cricket after the tournament, was not available.

New Zealand will need everything to go in their favour if they are to become the first team from their nation to advance to the final in six attempts.

Their bowling is usually disciplined, if not especially penetrative, and the fielding was exceptional in the quarter-final win over South Africa,

Vettori's main concern is his team's inconsistency. "We need quickly to switch off from South Africa, it's obviously a tremendous result for us but Sri Lanka is a different prospect so we need a different game plan and a bigger game plan if we want to succeed here," he said.

"We have been so up and down with our performances. When we have won well, we backed it up with a poor performance.

"So, that has been the majority of talk within the team that we can't afford to be up and down in the knockout stages. We have had our up performance and we have to make sure we have another one in the bag because we know how strong Sri Lanka can be in their home conditions."

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Ind vs Pak: India, Pakistan get ready for showdown with dew respect

MOHALI: Alfred Hitchcock would have been fascinated by the thrilling build-up to this game. As he once said, there is no terror in a bang, only in the anticipation of it. In fierce testimony to the compelling power of sport to excite and evoke, the Punjab Cricket Association stadium has been the epicentre of national anxiety for days now. With just a day left for this World Cup semifinal to get underway, the cultural twists, political turns, local unrest and logistical nightmares are all reaching a crescendo. It has been an exercise in anger management for security personnel too.

As hope gave way to despair and serpentine queues in front of ticket booths dissolved into a stone-pelting mob with a fury and agenda of its own, it seemed the lead actors were calmly cohabiting a pocket universe of their own. Cushioned from the shrill overtones of cross-border congeniality this match-up has acquired, the cricketers themselves got down to the serious business of scripting a new chapter in their rivalry.

For starters, both teams chose to have animated conversations with the curator. Pakistan's manager Intikhab Alam, coach Waqar Younis and captain Shahid Afridi confabulated with those in the know, and sources indicated India's think-tank had had separate discussions. Reading the conditions, and how the end-of-season Mohali pitch will behave - whether it will facilitate strokeplay throughout or slow down towards the end of the game - will have a huge bearing on their strategies.

Pakistan even made plans for a fielding practice in the evening, and it'll help them gauge the dew factor too. Infamous for their butter-fingered inclinations, the team's training sessions have seemed more intense and thorough than India's. Seeing Pakistan sweat it out has been indication enough of the magnitude of the encounter.

Munaf or Nehra?

For the hosts, though, it's all about maintaining the tempo and revising last-minute plans. The two-seamers/two-spinners combo seems to have worked well against Australia, and MS Dhoni has, in the past, appeared reluctant to change winning lineups. But does he go with Munaf Patel, whose impact seems to have diluted into the tournament, or chose to field the now-on-now-off Ashish Nehra? Although Sreesanth was his usual ebullient self in the nets, it appears unlikely he will have any role to play. Nehra had a diligent nets session, bowling his heart out and even indulging in some batting practice.

The Munaf conundrum, and whether it will be wise to continue opening with Ravichandran Ashwin's spin, are the twin quandaries the team management must decide fast. Harbhajan Singh, though restrictive, hasn't been the wicket-taking option the team would like him to be and the coaches took time out for a special session, getting India's main off-spinner to bowl at a stump and reminding him whenever the delivery landed short.

Sachin takes leaf out of Pakistan's book

The batting heavyweights, on whose shoulders rest India's World Cup hopes, seemed more intent on finetuning their art and getting a feel of bat on ball in this first nets session since their arrival. As the chorus grows for Tendulkar to deliver on his 100th ton, the batsman himself chose to take a leaf out of Pakistan's training handbook and play deliveries directed at a granite slate, to cope with faster deliveries and unpredictable seam movement.

The usual throwdowns from coach Gary Kirsten were there too, but the attention was hogged by a left-handed nets bowler who hurled the ball into the slate as Sachin used an older bat to knock the bouncing deliveries away. The other opener, Sehwag, too followed suit.

There's a reason why the routines for both teams have veered slightly away from the norm. In spite of the clamour and conflicting motivations, the cricketers will eventually have to hold centrestage, and preparations must be precise.

World Cup put out of bounds for news channels

NEW DELHI: Putting a spanner in the coverage of the much-awaited India-Pakistan cricket semifinal, the ICC has unexpectedly cancelled the media accreditation of television channels. The decision has been strongly criticized by TV channels as "infringement of media rights".

An e-mail sent by ICC to TV channels on Sunday said, "Please be advised that your accreditation has been cancelled for Wednesday's ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 semifinal match between India and Pakistan in Mohali. You will therefore not be granted a media match-day ticket and will not be allowed to enter the ground. In addition, you will not have access to any event-related activities such as pre and post-match media conferences and team training sessions."

The move comes on the back of allegations by the ICC that TV channels were using more TV footage than was agreed upon. An ICC spokesman said, "There have been serious violations of news access guidelines, as well as media terms and conditions, which the non-rights holders had signed on and agreed to abide by while applying for media accreditation for the ICC Cricket World Cup."

The News Broadcasters Association has reacted strongly to this restrictive step. "The last two-three days, news broadcasters were getting threatening letters from the ICC asking them to sign an undertaking which was restrictive and unacceptable at this crucial juncture of the World Cup. The issue was discussed in the board meeting and all broadcasters have decided to voluntarily desist from accessing the match venue or availing any other accreditation benefits. We are all united in this," Annie Joseph, secretary general, NBA said.

Reacting to the media ban Shazi Zaman, Broadcast Editor's Association president said, "ICC is withdrawing accreditation of the entire electronic media. This means that we are deprived of covering not just the match but also the Indo-Pak political event. This is an infringement of media rights."

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