Lanka will play the best brand of cricket - Moody

CRICKET: Sri Lankan coach Tom Moody said that his team will play the best brand of cricket when they confront South Africa in their International Cricket Council Champions Trophy Mini World Cup third and final Group 'B' match at the Saradar Patel Gujarat Stadium in Motela, Ahamedabad here on Tuesday.

The former Australian Test star said his team is now moving in the right direction and is determined to reach the last four of the competition. Even then he was really concerned about the unpredictable conditions of the Indian wickets which could have a huge impact on the final game.

"The question mark that everyone's got at the moment is the fact that the bearing of the dew has, and the influence that has on the result of the games. We are yet to realise the significance and the advantage of batting first or batting second under these conditions".

Moody said that the Indian conditions will certainly help the teams in the sub continent although he was optimistic whether the favourite teams could really turn things around. "It is too early to predict a winner at this stage of the tournament because we see already the so called favourite teams lose a game during the qualifying round stage. To me the contest is still wide open and our main concentration at the moment is the passage to the semifinals".

Meanwhile Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardena said that this game has great significance and virtually a quarterfinal fixture as a win would guarantee them of a place in the semifinals. "Every match in this tournament is very important for us and there is no added pressure on the team. This game is more or likely a quarterfinal fixture and we know that if we can get through this we are assured of a place in the semifinals".

"The run rate will come into effect at some stage of the tournament but we do not want to put our destiny in some other hands. We are very much focussed on this game and we want to complete the league stage with a good performance" added the Lankan skipper.

"All wickets in India do assist the spinners and we hope that it will be the same for this game. Our team is packed with a number of good spinners and all are experienced so they could adjust themselves to the conditions in a short period of time. We played here before against Zimbabwe and the wicket did turn and hopefully we expect the same to happen in this match".

Jayawardena said that the South Africans do have some top all rounders and are expecting a tough contest. "They do play the spinners pretty well and they have played a number of occasions against us and have come out with some impressive performances in the past.

The advantage that we have is Sanath Jayasuriya who is an experienced campaigner and who bowls spin quite effectively. Muralitharan is also a quality bowler but it is important all players come out with a good performance which will make the task of winning much easier".

Jayawardena however said that Tuesday's match against South Africa will not be a grudge match". "Mark Boucher can call it anything he wants. For me, it's not about revenge or grudge. We are all professionals and we are here to play cricket. But if they want to treat this as a grudge match, I think we are in good hands. Their focus will not be on cricket then. So we'll be happy about that."

Jayawardene was responding to the comments made by Mark Boucher, who was then captain of the South African team on the recent visit to Sri Lanka in Graeme Smith's absence when the team prematurely pulled out of the tournament and returned home amid security fears.

Sri Lanka and South Africa have played 43 one day internationals against each other and the contest has been quite evenly matched with Sri Lanka winning 21 and South Africa 20. The two teams have played each other in India only once in Guwahati in 1993-94 with South Africa winning that match by 78 runs.

However playing against other teams in India, South Africas' record is better than Sri Lanka. They have won 13 and lost 12 matches while Sri Lanka have won 20 and lost 34. In Ahmedabad, however, Sri Lanka have the edge as they have won two of the three games they have played here. South Africa, on the other hand, have never played here.

Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara needs only 20 runs to complete 1000 runs against South Africa while Muttiah Muralitharan needs five wickets to complete 50 against South Africa. He has taken 45 wickets in 29 matches.

The teams:

South Africa (from): Graeme Smith (capt), Loots Bosman, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, Boeta Dippenaar, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Hall, Jacques Kallis, Justin Kemp, Charl Langeveldt, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Robin Peterson, Shaun Pollock.

SRI LANKA (from): Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Marvan Atapattu, Malinga Bandara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dilhara Fernando, Sanath Jayasuriya, Chamara Kapugedera, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ruchira Perera, Kumar Sangakkara, Upul Tharanga, Chaminda Vaas.