ICC World Twenty20, 1st Match, Group C: Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe at Hambantota, Sep 18, 2012

SRI LANKA VS ZIMBABWE
Match scheduled to begin at 19:30 local time (14:00 GMT)

Team news

A slightly new-look Sri Lanka XI is possible with Dilshan Munaweera likely to open the batting alongside Tillakaratne Dilshan and offspinner Akila Dananjaya - both set for debuts. That will mean Mahela Jayawardene will bat at No.3. The middle order is solid and the bowling varied, with two frontline spinners in Dananjaya and Ajantha Mendis.

Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Dilshan Munaweera, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Mahela Jayawardene, 4 Kumar Sangakkara, 5 Lahiru Thirimanne, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Nuwan Kulasekara, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Lasith Malinga, 10 Ajantha Mendis 11 Akila Dananjaya,

An impressive top three gives way to a shaky Zimbabwe middle order but their alternatives are few. Only Forster Mutizwa could replace Craig Ervine or Stuart Matsikenyeri but their experience would likely see them turn out for the first match. It will probably be a choice between Elton Chigumbura and Malcolm Waller for the allrounder's role. Zimbabwe have three frontline spinners in Prosper Utseya, Graeme Cremer and Ray Price and Price is the likeliest to miss out if they chose to play three seamers.

Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Hamilton Masakadza, 2 Vusi Sibanda, 3 Brendan Taylor, 4 Craig Ervine, 5 Stuart Matsikenyeri, 6 Elton Chigumbura/ Malcolm Waller, 7 Prosper Utseya 8 Graeme Cremer, 9 Richard Muzhange, 10 Kyle Jarvis, 11 Chris Mpofu

Pitch and conditions

With heavy gusts expected in the afternoon and evening in Hambantota, some steadying adjustments will have to be made all round. Matches there have been low scoring, largely because the surface area of the field is larger than the MCG, but the boundary rope is being brought in for this tournament. The pitch is expected to have something in it for the seamers, so much so that Brendan Taylor said he does not expect much turn. Temperatures are expected to be warm, between 26 and 28 degrees Celsius, with up to 80% humidity but little chance of rain.

Five-star Pathan bowls India to win

Irfan Pathan scalped five wickets as India warmed up for the ICC World Twenty20 with a comfortable 26-run victory over hosts Sri Lanka in their first practice match in Colombo today.

India scored 146 for five, riding on captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's unbeaten 55 and then Pathan took centre stage with an impressive five for 25 to skittle out the Islanders for 120 in 19.3 overs at the P Sara Oval.

Continuing his fine run, Pathan ripped through the Lankan top order before coming back to dismiss the lower middle order in the end.

The Baroda speedster was ably supported by comeback man Lakshmipathy Balaji, who claimed three for 28.

Set a victory target of 147, Sri Lanka received an early jolt as Pathan castled opener Dilshan Munaweera on the last ball of the first over.

The 27-year-old then dismissed Tillakaratne Dilshan with the last ball of his second over to leave the the hosts reeling at 15 for two from the first three overs.

Kumar Sangakkara (32) combined with Angelo Mathews (16) to resurrect the Lankan innings but with Balaji getting better off the later, the target seemed to be a distant one for the hosts.

Sangakkara, in company of Lahiru Thirimanne, slowly but steadily took the Lankan total past 70 runs, punishing anything lose dished out by the bowlers.

Their partnership was, however cut short as Harbhajan Singh, dawning the Indian colours after a gap of over an year, bowled Sangakkara out in the 12th over to put India in a driver's seat.

Thirimanne (24) was the next man to go, giving Zaheer Khan his only wicket of the match.

Pathan then came back to haunt the Sri lankan batsmen as he dismissed Thisara Perara and skipper Mahela Jayawardene of successive deliveries before cleaning off Jeevan Mendis on the last ball of his spell to close the doors on the hosts.

Balaji completed the formalities as India walked away with an easy victory.

Earlier, electing to bat, India were in a precarious situation at four for 51 before Dhoni and Rohit Sharma (37) stitched a 78-run partnership for the fifth wicket to lend some respectability to the Indian total.

The visitors did not have an auspicious beginning as Gautam Gambhir was forced to leave the field as early as in the first over after being hit on the right wrist by a Lasith Malinga delivery.

Virender Sehwag (12) and Suresh Raina (12) played with caution but their vigil did not last long as Nuwan Kulasekara got Raina caught by Dilshan Munaweera in the fifth over.

Sehwag followed the suit a ball later playing one straight to Mathews.

With in-form Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh also taking a long walk back to the pavillion by the end of ninth over, it was left to Rohit and Dhoni to do the damage control.

Both the batsmen looked comfortable at the crease sending the Lankans on a leather hunt. Dhoni in particular was very severe on anything lose as he clobbered his way to an unbeaten half-century with the help of three sixes and four fours.

Rohit once again showed his liking for the shorter format of the game as he struck four hits to the fence and one over it to help India cross the 100-run mark.

India will take on Pakistan in their next warm-up game on Monday before meeting Afghanistan on September 19 in their tournament opener.

Courtesy :  ESPNSTAR

Warm Up Matches to be played today

Afghanistan  v Sri Lanka A

Australia  v New Zealand

Zimbabwe  v Bangladesh

India  v Sri Lanka

'Superstitious' India drop new T20 jersey

Team India will not be wearing their new T20 jersey, which was unveiled with much fanfare recently by Nike, at the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka due to a 'superstition', DNA reported on Saturday.

When MS Dhoni's men played the second T20 international against New Zealand at Vizag wearing their old jersey, it did raise some eyebrows. But the news of BCCI red-flagging the new outfit explains it now.

The blue uniform has the Indian tricolour on the shoulder, with the BCCI logo in the middle. Along with that are the three golden stars representing India's three World Cup wins in 1983, 2007 and 2011.

But the BCCI, reports DNA, is of the opinion that the current ODI uniform is lucky and the fans might see the team wearing the same when they take the field in the warm-up game against Sri Lanka on September 15. The report also says that Nike officials refused any comments but sources says the Indian board wants to stick to the ODI outfit because India won the 2011 World Cup in that jersey.

"We've decided to go with the old jersey and we have communicated this to Nike. The players won't be wearing the new colours," a top board official apparently told DNA.

World T20: Australia can still win the tournament, says Michael Clarke

Australia can win the Twenty20 World Cup this month, test captain Michael Clarke said on Thursday, even if they are ranked ninth in the world and will have to do it without him.

Clarke quit the shortest form of the game after the final match of the 2010-11 Ashes debacle and will spend the next two months preparing for a three-match series against top-ranked test side South Africa by playing for New South Wales

In his absence, Australia slumped below Ireland in the Twenty20 rankings after successive defeats to Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, before rising back above their pool stage rivals with a 94-run win in the third match on Monday.

"I think we can win the Twenty20 World Cup," Clarke said on Thursday.

"We've got the talent and we showed that in the last game against Pakistan in the UAE, and I think we've showed it in patches over the last couple of years."

Clarke said he had watched all three Twenty20 matches on television after returning from the 2-1 win over Pakistan in a 50-over series and said although rankings did not tell the whole story, they did indicate there was plenty of work to do.

"It's different for the Australian team but I guess it shows we haven't performed as well as we need to in that form of the game," he added.

"We need to turn that around and what better time than at the World Cup."

Australia, losing finalists at the last Twenty20 World Cup in 2010, have been grouped with Ireland and West Indies in the opening stage of the fourth version of the tournament, which takes place in Sri Lanka from September 18 to October 7.

The 31-year-old said he remained in phone contact with coach Mickey Arthur, captain George Bailey and vice captain Shane Watson but had no regrets about having given up the format.

"I'm really focused on trying to get my head back around test cricket," he said. 

Courtesy: Cricketnext.com 

Dhoni stresses importance of part-time bowlers

MS Dhoni feels India's batsmen have contributed well as part-time bowlers in the absence of a genuine allrounder in the squad. Dhoni also said conditions in Sri Lanka had changed over the years and there wasn't much help for spinners during India's limited-overs tour to the country in July and August.

"We are a team who rely strongly on batting. But some of the top batsmen play the role of part-timers," Dhoni said after arriving in Colombo for the World Twenty20. "In T20 cricket, part-timers are very important. Our part-timers have been doing well.

"We also don't have a genuine all-rounder so we have to rely on part-time bowlers who are specialist batsmen. Yuvraj [Singh] is one and we have Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina. They will chip in an over each and that makes it a lot easier for us."

Dhoni was pleased to have Yuvraj back in the side but refused to comment on his selection soon after recovering from a rare cancer. "It's a selection matter. But I am happy that he is in the team as he is a champion player and a match-winner. He also brings a balance in the team as in T20 cricket you don't include a fifth bowler."

India will be based in Colombo during the World Twenty20. Dhoni said playing at one venue would help but also felt that conditions could still change as the tournament progressed. "We won't be travelling much. We can put in a bit more effort in the net session and skill-oriented session.

"I feel the conditions in Sri Lanka have changed a lot in the past years. When we came here in 2005, the wickets were different and when we came here last time [in July 2012], the wickets were different. The spinners did not get much help from the pitches in the five ODIs and one T20 we played here in our last tour.

"If a ground is hosting many matches, then it will slow down and the spinners will get help. So we have to see the conditions and plan accordingly." 

World T20: Gayle tips WI as big contenders

Talismanic opener Chris Gayle has backed the West Indies to reach the final of the World Twenty20 Championship beginning on Sep 18. The big-hitting left-hander, the hottest commodity in World T20 cricket, said he believed the Caribbean side could improve on their showing at the 2009 edition of the tournament in England when they reached the final four.

 "When you look at our team you can say we are well balanced. In these tournaments the best we achieved was the semi-finals in England back in 2009," the Jamaican said on Wednesday.

"We didn't do so well when it was played at home back in 2010, so we want to get it together this time around. Once we stick to what we know, I don't see any reason why we can't go all the way."

With Gayle and several other international T20 stars, the West Indies are widely seen as one of the favourites in the September 18-October 7 tournament.

Off-spinner Sunil Narine along with all-rounders Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard are all expected to put their immense talent in the game's shortest version, on show for the Windies.

The Caribbean side play their first official warm-up against the hosts Thursday. Gayle said it was important for the team to start well.

"We are away from home and we have to adapt to the conditions as quickly as possible. We want to make a solid start and look to put the other teams under some pressure," Gayle said.

"I'm really looking forward to it. There are a lot of competitive teams here. Every team has a chance to win ... there's not going to be any walkovers. No one is going to take anyone for granted and we have to be at our best at all times.

"We want to get off to a good start and also look to be there at the end when the semi-finals and finals are played."

The West Indies have been drawn in Group B alongside Australia and Ireland. Both first round matches will be at the Premadasa Stadium.

The West Indies open against the Aussies Sep 22 before taking on the Irish two days later.

Courtesy: Cricketnext.com