Sri Lankan coach Dav Whatmore believes the notoriously sluggish St.George's Park pitch will be the great leveler between Australia and Sri Lanka in the grudge semifinal showdown tomorrow.
While Australia has remained the form team to beat here, Sri Lanka scratched through the Super Six to snatch the last semifinal spot after outplaying Zimbabwe in East London on Saturday.
Sri Lanka will take confidence from its recent record against the high-riding Australians as Sanath Jayasuriya's men remain the only team to beat the defending world champions this year.
Australia has lost only two of its last 24 one-day internationals -- both to Sri Lanka. First, it got knocked out of the ICC champions' trophy in Colombo in September, and then in a high-scoring tri-series match in Sydney on Jan. 9.
The controversial pitch -- described by Ricky Ponting as poor for one-day cricket -- is likely to favor the spin-oriented Sri Lanka more than the pace-led Australia.
The Sri Lanka slow bowlers take the pace off the ball and Australian batsmen, raised on true, hard and fast surfaces, struggle to force the pace.
The Australian batsmen have already struggled in the two games so far in Port Elizabeth, and that's why Whatmore, who guided Sri Lanka to the 1996 title, thinks his side stands a good chance.
Ponting's side managed to survive two games against England and then New Zealand on its way to remaining unbeaten.
"They are a very good side," said Whatmore. "They are clearly the form team. They are the favorites.
"What brings them back to the field is the surface we are going to play on," said Whatmore, a former Australian test player who turned 49 on Sunday.
"I think the wicket will suit Sri Lanka's style of bowling more than it did in Centurion," he said.
The first and last time Sri Lanka reached the semifinal, it beat India and went on to beat Mark Taylor's Australia in the final in Lahore in the country's finest moment since attaining test status in 1981.
Australia beat Sri Lanka by 96 runs in the opening Super Six match.
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