da stake casino： Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya considers New Zealand to be histeam’s main rivals in the triangular one-day Coca Cola Cup seriesstarting in Colombo on Wednesday
da brdice： 17-Jul-2001Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya considers New Zealand to be histeam’s main rivals in the triangular one-day Coca Cola Cup seriesstarting in Colombo on Wednesday.The hosts will meet New Zealand in the opening match of thetournament, also featuring India. The teams will play each other threetimes in the league phase, with the top two qualifying for the August5 final.”They (India) are not really our main rivals, but they have beenplaying well,” Jayasuriya told a website last week.The Sri Lankan skipper has good reason to be optimistic aboutdefeating India: his men beat the team three times when they last metat Sharjah in October, including in the final.India are also without their star batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who isnursing a foot injury.Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has conceded that the Sri Lankans willbe a tough unit at home, especially in one-dayers. “We will have toplay really well to beat them,” he has said.Forgetting the past, however, will put India in a better frame of mindfor the upcoming series. Last year they were on the verge ofcelebrating their resurgence after the match-fixing scandal when theywere thwarted by New Zealand and Sri Lanka.New Zealand were the first to ruin India’s party with a remarkablefour-wicket victory in the International Cricket Council knock-outfinal in Nairobi last October. Sri Lanka rubbed it in a few weekslater in a triangular series at Sharjah when they dismissed India fortheir lowest-ever total of 54 to run out comfortable winners.But India would not like to remember these defeats and are treatingthis tournament as a stepping stone to the 2003 World Cup in SouthAfrica.For this series, India has made three changes to the team that was inZimbabwe last month. Left-handed batsman Amay Khurasiya replacesTendulkar and middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh and left-arm spinnerRahul Sanghvi have been recalled.Sri Lanka has dropped several players from the team which had clincheda tri-series at Sharjah in April in a bid to find the right men forthe World Cup.Batsmen Avishka Gunawardene and Chamara Silva have been recalled alongwith fast-bowling all-rounders Suresh Perera and Dulip Liyanage.Fast bowler Nuwan Zoysa was ruled out of the series because of anankle injury and will be replaced by Dinusha Fernando, the chiefselector announced today.Sri Lankan coach Dav Whatmore has welcomed the importance given tomedium-paced all-rounders.”To be successful in South Africa, we need to have considerable fastbowling resources and some of those bowlers must be able to bat,” hehas said.New Zealand have also effected a few changes in the team which hadfailed to qualify for the Sharjah final in April.All-rounder Dion Nash and left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori havereturned to the squad after passing fitness tests. There are sevenall-rounders in the team, described by chairman of selectors RichardHadlee as “strong and experienced” and “selected with Sri Lankanconditions in mind”.New Zealand manager Jeff Crowe said his team’s chances of winning thetournament here were pretty good.”We have come here fresh, without too much cricket and from our winterwith the batteries recharged,” he said. “The last time they (SriLanka) came to New Zealand they beat us in one-dayers. I think wewould like to return the favour this time.”
