Sydney: Will Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara have the last laugh against Dale Steyn or AB De Villiers can lift the fearsome Lasith Malinga out of the park?
The historic venue holds the answers as a star cast will do battle between Sri Lanka and South Africa in the first World Cup quarter final on Wednesday. Sangakkara is in incredible form and Steyn is most the revered pace bowler in the world. Malinga, who can run through any batting line-up with his sizzling yorkers, is also yearning to bowl to De Villiers who can destroy any good bowler with ease. At the Sydney Cricket Ground, Malinga was seen going flat out at a single stump for nearly half-an-hour. Many felt that batsmen were not asked to face him for fear of getting injured when this pacer is at his fearsome best. Twice, his deliveries pierced through the nets — forcing authorities to further fasten the back of the nets as the cricket ball almost injured the photographers waiting behind.
South African coach Russell Domingo, meanwhile, has already announced that a match-winning performance from his pacer Steyn is around the corner.
When asked to compare between Sangakkara and De Villiers, Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews said: “They are absolute legends of the game. Kumar has been brilliant in the past four games for us, and hopefully he can get one more tomorrow. Obviously, Kumar is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen. He’s the first one to get into the nets and the last two get out of the nets. AB, we all know that he’s such a destructive player. We need to try to get rid of him as early as we can or else we’ll be in trouble. So we look to try to get AB out as soon as possible.”
When De Villiers was asked how it is to feature in a game with Sangakkara, he said: “To be very honest with you, and I hope you don’t take it in the wrong way, I couldn’t care less about him or me. I just want to win the game of cricket tomorrow. If it’s our No. 11 batsman that wins us the game, so be it. I just want to find a way to win.”
However, Mathews is very clear on how to go about with his plans be it De Villiers or Steyn. “We all know that De Villiers is a destructive player and Steyn is a very good bowler, so we have plans against them. We look to execute them well, and if we execute them well, we can tie them down and be attacking.”
