Heat and dust as I-Cup heads for the climax

Prem Panicker

Hyderabad, right now, is so hot that playing cricket there should be good practise for going to hell!

And with a fluent win over India on Saturday at the Wankhede, Sri Lanka just upped the temperature several notches, as it prepares to take on New Zealand in what will be the last league game of the ongoing Independence Cup, for both teams.

The result against India means that Sri Lanka, with a loss to Pakistan and a win over India, and New Zealand which, ironically, defeated Pakistan and lost to India, are now level on points with one game to play. And that, in turn, does away with the pocket calculators, run rates, and such (unless, for some reason, the game is abandoned as a no result) and ensures that the team that wins on Tuesday takes its place in the final.

Just how crucial heat will be as a factor is shown by two off-field developments. For one, the host cricket association has asked - but not yet received - permission from the BCCI to delay the start of play, scheduled for 1700 IST, by one hour. And for another, New Zealand preferred to stay put in the much-cooler climate of Bangalore over the weekend, rather than swelter in the heat of Hyderabad.

"It is very hot," admits Kiwi skipper Stephen Fleming, "but we'll cope."

And what of Sanath Jayasuriya, the master-blaster who ripped apart the Indian bowling lineup at Bombay on Saturday? "Fantastic knock, that," admits Fleming. "But we have discussed the problem, we reckon we know how to handle Jayasuriya." There is cool confidence in those words - a confidence, one suspects, that is buttressed by the recent series between the two teams, in which they held Sri Lanka to a one-all draw.

While Fleming is reluctant to discuss strategy, he admits that he will be relying on two key components of the Kiwi gameplan - apart, of course, from that constant, their razorsharp fielding - to pull off the big one. "Astle's form right now gives us a guarantee of a good start. And we have probably the best middle-overs attack in the competition," he adds, referring to the likes of Harris and Astle, who bowl a very intelligent, constrictive line and length and invariably manage to halt the run flow in the middle overs.

Lankan skipper Arjuna Ranatunga, meanwhile, remains his placid, calmly confident, self. Despite Hyderabad being closer to Sri Lanka than to New Zealand, he Lankan skipper admitted that the weather was not what he was used to back in Colombo. "We think it will be easier for us to adapt, though, and that should give us a little edge."

What gives his side more than a "little" edge, he admits, is the presence of Sanath Jayasuriya at the top of the order. "His knock against India was easily one of the best one-day knocks I've seen," said Ranatunga. "He made 150, and we won easily with almost nine overs to spare, though the rest of us, altogether, could make only 65 - that shows you how well he played and how thorough his mastery of the Indian bowling was. Jayasuriya made the win easier than it looked."

But if Jayasuriya is in prime form and Aravinda D'Silva of late is more used to scoring 100s than the first ball duck he had against India, then little Romesh Kaluwitharana remains a problem area. The dimunitive keeper, Jayasuriya's partner in many incredible acts of mayhem at the top of the order, has been going through a miserable patch and his first ball dismissal for a duck against India on Saturday only reinforced the thinking in some quarters that he should be sent down the order, in order to free him from the pressure of his failures, and allowed to get his game back together again. More so as Lanka has, in its ranks, a world class opening like Roshan Mahanama who can take Kalu's place at the top of the order.

In fact, Ranatunga himself had indicated, prior to the game against India, that Kalu would bat at seven. "The Indian total was relatively small, so we decided to let Kalu remain at the top," explains the Lankan skipper. "As for the match against New Zealand, we haven't made up our minds yet about whether to bat him at the top, or lower down."

Interestingly, former Test star and current Lankan cricket manager Duleep Mendis, the man behind Kalu's promotion to the top of the order in the first place, feels that it is too early to talk of pushing him back down the order. "Players do run through bad patches, and everything else being equal, they should be given a chance to play themselves back into form. We have a very strong batting lineup, which is capable of absorbing the pressure in case Kalu goes early, so there is no harm in letting him play himself back - and there is no doubt that when he is in touch, he is devastating."

And what of the game itself? "Oh, it is just another cricket match," smiles Ranatunga. "Both sides know that if they lose, they are out of the tournament - so it should be pretty interesting."

A master of understatement, this guy....