WT20 Final Preview: Sri Lanka count on a plan, WI on Gayle

The streets in Colombo have their own take on the final between the West Indies and Sri Lanka and in almost all scenarios; there was just one winner – the home team. No one gives West Indies; no one believes that it’s possible for Darren Sammy’s men to upset the applecart; no one believes that Mahela Jayawardene and Kumara Sangakkara can be denied a World Cup once again. In fact, if you step out in the Sri Lankan capital, it won’t take a lot of time before you spot a Sri Lankan jersey or a car flying the Sri Lanka flag. It won’t take a long time for someone to ask whether you have tickets for the final either. [caption id=“attachment_481875” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  West Indies’ captain Darren Sammy, left, and Sri Lanka’s captain Mahela Jayawardene pose with the winners trophy of the ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup ahead of their final match in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Saturday. AP[/caption] The other day, we were out walking on the streets when a car slowed down and someone leaned out and asked the question: Do you have tickets for the final? Now, we didn’t know the guy. He didn’t know us either. But all differences can be set aside for the hottest ticket in town. And even though, Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene dismissed Chris Gayle as ‘just another player in a very good West Indies team.’ “We never went after individual players. We have tried to control things the way we can control. He (Gayle) is just another player in a very good West Indies team. We have to have our focus on the entire team,” Jayawardene replied when he was asked about how they plan to tackle the Gayle threat. But the man on the street will tell you otherwise. A tuk-tuk driver summed up the match rather succinctly: West Indies is a decent team but Chris Gayle is dangerous. We have a good bowling attack. Batting depends on Mahela and Sanga. Whatever permutations and combinations one might come up with – that is the gist of the matter. Those are the factors that are going to decide the game. Some might argue that the toss is important but it’s just 20-over innings, it’s not like the character of the pitch. The thing that will change is the pressure. If the team batting first gets anywhere close to 160, expect a very tight game. Shot-making on the slow pitch hasn’t been easy but you wouldn’t guess that if you saw the West Indies play against Australia in the semi-final. But the Sri Lankan attack is a very different beast. Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara, Ajantha Mendis and Angelo Mathews will play for certain. Expect Rangana Herath to play as well and they all know the conditions well. Sammy was game enough to concede that a spinning track might put his batsmen off for a bit but then the old West Indian cool couldn’t be shackled for too long. “But you know if we get going, then it won’t matter whether the pitch is spinning or not,” said Sammy. And that’s the kind of confidence the West Indies have at the moment. On Sunday, they will need every ounce of it as they will be battling, not just 11 men but a whole nation. Everywhere they go, every person they see will be an opponent. To go into the heart of the enemy camp and win is never easy but at the moment, the West Indies believe that nothing is impossible. After the win against Australia, Sourav Ganguly believed that West Indies cricket was staging a revival. But a win in the final will get a nation interested in cricket again. Still Sri Lanka go into the match as favourites… especially if they can get Gayle early. That’s not just winning a mere battle, it will be winning the war too.