Sri Lanka hope a fully fit Muttiah Muralitharan can spark another match-winning performance against England in tomorrow’s World Cup quarter-finals.
The 38-year-old, who will retire from international cricket after the tournament, is all set to play a lead role for the co-hosts at R. Premadasa stadium.
Muralitharan, who has a world record of 530 one-day wickets, injured his hamstring during Sri Lanka’s impressive 112-run win over New Zealand last week, but has since recovered and is gearing up for another big match.
The wily off-spinner is the only survivor of Sri Lanka’s historic five-wicket win over England in the 1996 quarter-final — one of Sri Lanka’s two wins over their opponents in eight World Cup matches.
Muralitharan took two wickets in that match in Faisalabad before Sri Lanka went on to capture their only World Cup title.
Captain Kumar Sangakkara hopes Muralitharan will play another lead role.
“Murali needs to play. This is his last World Cup and he wins a lot of matches for us. He needs to have the freedom to do as he pleases. He needs to bowl and get wickets for us,” Sangakkara said.
Besides Muralitharan, fellow spinner Ajantha Mendis could still be a mystery for England against whom he has played just once.
Sling action paceman Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara and Angelo Mathews form a formidable pace attack that is adept at exploiting home conditions.
Sangakkara — top scorer in the tournament with 363 runs — Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and Upul Tharanga have all hit centuries.
In Jonathan Trott — the second highest run-getter with 336 — and captain Andrew Strauss (329), England have two quality batsmen, but their bowling has been a weak link in their see-saw World Cup.
The Ashes winners, who have yet to win the World Cup, opened the tournament with a tied match against India, lost to both Ireland and Bangladesh, but still beat South Africa to qualify for the last eight.
With Graeme Swann (12 wickets) and James Tredwell, who took a match-winning four wickets in the decisive Group B win over the West Indies, England have two quality spinners.
“If we do progress in this tournament, we’ve got to be a lot better than we have been. We’re not going to hide from that,” Strauss said.
England have suffered a stream of injuries in the tournament having seen ace batsman Kevin Pietersen (hernia), pacemen Stuart Broad (side strain) and Ajmal Shahzad (hamstring) forced out.
They have also dropped paceman James Anderson and batting all-rounder Paul Collingwood after both struggled with their form.
Anderson has managed just four wickets, while Collingwood has scored only 61 runs.
Also, all-rounder Michael Yardy has quit the World Cup suffering from depression just days before the quarter-final.
The 30-year-old Sussex left-hander, who played in three matches at the tournament, said he felt he had no option but to return home.
“Leaving at this stage of a World Cup campaign was a very difficult decision to make, but I felt that it was the only sensible option for me and I wanted to be honest about the reason behind that decision,” he said. “I would like to wish the squad all the very best ahead of the game on Saturday.”
He was not set to feature in the quarter-final in any event, having been omitted from the team. Yardy’s condition appeared reminiscent of the problem that forced former England opener Marcus Trescothick to retire from international cricket.
The winner of Sri Lanka-England quarter-final will meet the winner of South Africa-New Zealand clash in the first semi-final in Colombo on Tuesday.
Pakistan will meet the winner of India-Australia match in the second semi-final in Mohali on Wednesday.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
The sacred flame for the Paris Olympics was lit yesterday in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the ancient Games, in a ceremony inspired by antiquity and marked by messages of hope amid multiple global crises. “In ancient times, the Olympic Games brought together the Greek city states, even — and in particular — during times of war and conflict,” International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said. “Today, the Olympic Games are the only event that brings the entire world together in peaceful competition. Then as now, the Olympic athletes are sending this powerful message — yes, it is possible to compete fiercely