Lanka look to spinners

ICC World Twenty20



Sri Lanka expect the spinners to pick up another rich haul when they take on the West Indies in the World Twenty20 semifinal at The Oval on Friday.

The Sri Lankans have bulldozed their way through the tournament with five straight wins, mainly on the back of spin twins Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralidaran who lead a balanced bowling attack.

Mendis, who puzzles batsmen by turning the ball both ways with one visible action, has so far picked up 11 wickets in the tournament, just one behind Pakistani seamer Umar Gul's tally of 12.

Muralidaran has five wickets, while fast bowler Lasith Malinga has picked up 10 with a mix of toe-crushing yorkers and slower deliveries.

Former captain Mahela Jayawardene, who handed the reigns to Kumar Sangakkara before the tournament, said he was confident the bowlers will deliver at the crunch time.

"Look, Murali can turn the ball on any surface," Jayawardene said of the star off-spinner, who is the world's highest wicket-taker in both Tests and one-day cricket.

"And if Ajantha sticks to his plans, we have a fairly good chance of going all the way."

Mendis grabbed 3-9 in three overs as Sri Lanka routed New Zealand by 48 runs in their last Super Eights match at Trent Bridge on Tuesday.

The Black Caps failed miserably to chase down a target of 159 in a must-win game and were shot out for 110 in 17 overs.

Jayawardene said the team was taking it one match at a time and would not be carried away just because they had reached the semifinals.

"We set goals for ourselves when we came to the tournament. At the start was going through the first round, then the Super Eights.

"Now we have two goals left, win the semis and the final. But we have to stay calm and focussed on the job at hand."

Jayawardene said the secret of Sri Lanka's success in the tournament was trying to stay one step ahead of the others, like bringing on the slow bowlers in the first six overs when the field was inside the circle.

"As a team we realise we have to peak at a certain time in the tournament," he said. "Teams analyse you these days so what we are trying to do is stay one step ahead of the others.

"Sometimes it works, other times it does not work, but as long as the attitude is there and the confidence is there to do that, it will help in the long run.