A battle for survival as Sri Lanka takes on England

St Peter's, Antigua, Apr 3: It is going to be a battle of survival when former champion Sri Lanka take on England tomorrow at Sir Vivian Richards ground here, in what can be termed as a crucial Super Eight league match for both the teams to stay in contention for the semi-final berth of the World Cup.

The contest is going to be needle one as both the teams need points to stay alive in the tournament.

Sri Lanka have four points from their two matches, including two carried forward points from the group stages.

They lost their first Super Eight encounter in a highly contested match against South Africa, but defeated host West Indies to add two more points against their name.

Meanwhile, England have only two points in their kitty which they managed to earn against neighbour Ireland, in their only Super Eight league match so far. They however, carried no points from group stage as New Zealand came out as table toppers in their group.

Boosted by their big win over the host, the Lions are are certain to take the field in a confident mode against their English counterparts.

The Lankans hammered Brian Lara's men by 113 runs in a sleek performance at the Providence Stadium in Georgetown on last Sunday, with the old horse Sanath Jayasuriya leading the way scoring his 25th ton and later claiming three wickets with ball in hand.

''Sanath, when he gets going changes the momentum. He takes the pressure out. He let other batsmen play risk-free and straight.

Because they don't have to look for runs,'' said a proud Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene about his champion left-hander.

On the basis of the huge victory over the Caribbeans, Mahela's men will undoubtedly start as favourites in tomorrow's encounter.

Though having plenty of depth on paper, Michael Vaughan's side have failed to impress so far in the mega event with victories over less-formidable Kenya and Canada and a defeat at the hands of the Kiwis in the group stages. To further add salt to the wound, they produced a less-than-impressive show against the debutant Ireland in their only Super Eight game so far.

However, apart from all the past record and performances, the Lanka-England tie is sure to witness an interesting battle of nerve between two spinners, old war horse Muralitharan and young Monty Panesar.

Leaving Murali aside, the English men will also have to cope up with record-maker Lasith Malinga, who claimed four wickets in four consecutive balls in their Super league match against South Africa and vitually rattled them.

Interestinly, English coach Duncan Fletcher is now banking on the arrival of WAGS (wives and girlfriends) of the players to lift their spirits. He is also hoping to see a revival of the kind of form that lifted the Englishmen from the crushing disappointment of 0-5 Ashes pounding to defeat Australia in the finals of tri-nation one-day series that followed immediately after the Ashes.

''I don't think we played as well as we could have, there's no doubt about it,'' Fletcher admitted after the Ireland game. ''We got a little complacent at times, and we need to make sure not to get complacent against better sides.'' In Sri Lanka, Vaughan's men will be face a side which at at top of their game. The opening Super Eight defeat to the Proteas was so close that it was the Lankans who walked heads held high at the end of the match and that confidence was on full show against the host nation.

It seems the entire batting line up of Sri Lanka is coming up to terms with runs as the tournament progresses. Jayawardene who was the only Lankan top order batsman to have missed out on runs so far has come good at a critical time in their campaign, adding a few more scares for England.

Sri Lanka (from): Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Marvan Atapattu, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Russel Arnold, Chamara Silva, Chaminda Vaas, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Nuwan Kulasekara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Malinga Bandara.

England (from): Michael Vaughan (capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Paul Collingwood, Jamie Dalrymple, Andrew Flintoff, Ed Joyce, Jon Lewis, Sajid Mahmood, Paul Nixon(wk), Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Andrew Strauss.

Umpires: Billy Bowden, Asad Rauf.

3rd umpire: Rudi Koertzen.

4th umpire: Aleem Dar.

Match referee: Jeff Crowe.

UNI