MELBOURNE: Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews is not taking Bangladesh lightly in Thursday’s World Cup clash despite a superior record, saying he expects a tough game against the South Asian rivals.

“This will be a pressure match for all of us,” Mathews said of the Pool ‘A’ encounter at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. “It will certainly be a tough game. Bangladesh have performed well in the recent past. They have a good set of players. We hope we can play our best cricket tomorrow.”

Sri Lanka, the 1996 champions and finalists in the last two editions, have won 32 of 37 One-day Internationals against Bangladesh, and their record in the World Cup is even better.

Bangladesh were hammered by 10 wickets in 2003 and by 198 runs four years later in the teams’ only two previous World Cup meetings, leaving Sri Lanka overwhelming favourites to extend the streak.

But Mathews’ men have had an uninspiring start to the 2015 event, with their batsmen struggling to cope with conditions in New Zealand.

Sri Lanka were thrashed by the co-hosts in the tournament opener in Christchurch, going down by 98 runs after New Zealand had piled up 331 for six.

Then a scare awaited them against Afghanistan in Dunedin, as the minnows fought tooth and nail before the Test side scraped through on the back of a century by the ever-reliable Mahela Jayawardene.

Having left New Zealand with two points from as many games, Sri Lanka will hope the change in scenery and conditions in Australia will galvanise their campaign.

“We need to improve our standards,” Mathews warned. “We have not played our best cricket yet. If we play the way we can, we can beat any team in the world. We have got to step up and set our goals high. Play every game as a final or a semi-final.”

Star batsmen Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan are still to fire, but Sri Lanka’s main concern will be the poor bowling which saw 16 wides and a no-ball conceded against Afghanistan.

Pace spearhead Lasith Malinga has given away 125 runs in the past two matches, but Mathews was not worried that his main strike bowler was a long way away from hitting top form after ankle surgery last year. “Lasith is working extremely hard at the nets,” he said.

Bangladesh, meanwhile, find themselves in the enviable position of being unbeaten after two games after their second match against mighty Australia was washed out in Brisbane. The Tigers avenged the loss to Afghanistan in the Asia Cup at home last year with a comfortable 105-run win in Canberra, and now stand a good chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals out of Pool ‘A’.

Two wins in their remaining four group matches will steer Bangladesh into the knockout phase, but with Sri Lanka, England, New Zealand and Scotland awaiting them, the task ahead is not easy.

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza said past records will count for little when they take the field, insisting his team was capable of causing an upset.

“If we lost to Sri Lanka in the past it meant we did not play those games well, it’s as simple as that,” Mashrafe said. “If we do well there is no reason why we can’t beat them.

Teams (from):

SRI LANKA: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews (captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Thisara Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara, Rangana Herath, Sachithra Senanayake, Dushmantha Chameera, Upul Tharanga.

BANGLADESH: Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Mominul Haque, Mohammad Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Taijul Islam, Arafat Sunny, Shafiul Islam.

Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and Paul Reiffel (Australia).

TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough (England).

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand).

Published in Dawn February 26th , 2015

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