HAMBANTOTA: Zimbabwe has never played at Hambantota and hosts Sri Lanka last played there two years ago on July 25 so both teams have not had a feel of the conditions or the pitch deep in the heart of South in recent times.
Sri Lanka at least having played 16 ODIs there know what to expect especially the strong winds that blow across the ground that poses a challenge to both bowlers and out fielders.
Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer having assessed the conditions at Hambantota said: “The wind is huge out here. That’s going to be a factor. We spoke about it. It’s going to be tough to hit against the wind and when bowling too. That’s one factor that we are looking at.”
Zimbabwe who excelled on a flat Galle track in the first ODI chasing down a score of 317 struggled to compete in the next match when the Galle pitch offered some assistance to the bowlers and were bundled out for 155.
“When the wicket is flatter like in the first game, you can play all your shots freely and chase down a huge score like that. The second game was probably not a wicket where you can go for your shots regularly. We need to do bit of work on that. Assess conditions and stick to our plans,” said Cremer.
“If the wicket is not conducive for sweep you have to come up with other options. Definitely the sweep shot is an option for us this side of the world. We will continue to do that, but if we see the wicket is turning a bit and bounce is variable then we will have to play down the ground a lot more.”
Having leveled the series one-all with a win in the second ODI at Galle, Sri Lanka are likely to go with an unchanged side for today’s third ODI unless someone falls ill as has been the case with Suranga Lakmal who was drafted into the squad for the remaining three ODIs but has been sent to Galle for tests having caught the bug which is spreading around in the Lankan team. Veteran fast bowler Nuwan Kulasekara has been named as cover up.
Sri Lanka has also brought in batsman Chamara Kapugedera which means that Dinesh Chandimal who didn’t get a nod in the first two ODIs will miss out on the Zimbabwe ODI series.
“They are different types of players. Chandi bats in the top order while Kapu bats in the middle order. Depending on the requirements of the team only we decide who the replacements are. The replacement we have for a middle order batsman is Kapugedera,” explained Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews.
“Upul (Tharanga) has done well at four. The selectors thought they didn’t want a change in that spot.
Chandimal is ideally suited for four. Upul if you see we didn’t give him a permanent place. It can go both ways. You either give a player a bit of a break or you go forward with him for as long as possible until he scores runs,” he said.
“The selectors were looking at most recent performance and the balance of the unit. The six batsmen included in the squad have scored runs. Before getting injured Kapu was batting well. It can go either way.”
SRI LANKA SQUAD (for 3rd, 4th & 5th ODIs): Angelo Mathews (captain), Upul Tharanga (vice-captain), Niroshan Dickwella, Dhanushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Asela Gunaratna, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamara Kapugedera, Lakshan Sandakan, Akila Dananjaya, Nuwan Pradeep, Lasith Malinga, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara.
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