Still licking the wounds of their recent thrashing at the hands of Australia, a jittery
England have a daunting task ahead of them — to stop a confident Sri Lanka when they open their ICC Champions Trophy campaign at the New Wanderers in Johannesburg tomorrow.
After the Ashes euphoria, England were drubbed 6-1 by Australia in the next one-day series and will have to quickly pull up their socks to make an impact in the
tournament.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have already beaten hosts and favourites South Africa in their opening match, and will be keen to keep the momentum going.
England must find a way to get rid of Tillakaratne Dilshan, who is in red hot form these days, early. If he gets his way along with the equally explosive Sanath Jayasuriya,
England bowlers will be in for severe punishment.
Dealing with spin-twins of Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan, plus the unorthodox Lasith Malinga, is another stiff challenge awaiting Andrew Strauss and his men in tomorrow's clash.Mendis has shown his form in the rain-marred match against South Africa, where he scalped three wickets.
Strauss himself admitted that tackling Mendis would be a task for his players. "We have not played Mendis and some of their seam bowlers before. You can look at footage of him but it is only in the middle that you can be really sure of how he bowls and what
his variations are", he said.
"It requires us to think pretty quick on our feet. There are some fundamentals you have to keep in mind against someone like him, but it is a new challenge. We have played against
Murali and Malinga, but Mendis is new."
Strauss will have the onerous responsibility of leading from the front as the side has neither Kevin Pietresen nor Andrew Flintoff. Ravi Bopara, Paul Collingwood, Luke Wright and stumper Matt Prior, too, have to make sure their bats do some talking as Sri Lanka have some very exciting batsmen in their ranks, capable of demolishing any total.
If Sri Lanka bat first, then James Anderson and Graham Onions have to give England a good start. Greame Swann did an excellent job in the last ODI against Australia by taking five wickets and his role in the middle overs will be crucial.
The match starts at 6pm IST.
