The former champions of the ICC World Twenty20 trophy, Paksitan will today take on Sri Lanka in the first semi-final match plated at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.
However, Pakistan beats Sri Lanka in last World Twenty20 finals. The match will start 6:30 pm today, and will be live on Star Cricket.
Pakistan is the much stronger team now, and their moral is also very high after they registered 32 runs win over Australia. However, Sri Lanka has advantage of home ground but that hardly makes a difference.
Talking to media, Pakistani captain Mohammad Hafeez said, “We believe as a team we can beat them (Sri Lanka).”
He said, “Players are playing with positive intentions and they have prepared for it. We are not relying on any one player, we are finding a new match-winner.”
On the other hand, Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene said, “I think we’ve played each other quite frequently, it’s been a good contest.”
The Sri Lankan captain said it would be going to be an exiting match tonight and they are quite confident today.
He said, “For us tactically it’s all about how we go about and play to our strength and how Pakistan responds to our tactics. We just need to keep changing, on the day on the field we need to react. That’s the way to go against Pakistan.”
Key Player: from Pakistan, opener Imran Nazir and last match hero Nasir Jamshed would be the key player, Saeed Ajmal, Raza Hasan and captain Hafez can play vital role in bowling tonight.
Key Players for Sri Lanka: In form batsman and captain Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara would be the main power in batting order and bowling would depend on the performances of Lasith Malinga and Angelo Mathews, Jeevan Mendis.
Teams:
Pakistan (probable): Mohammad Hafeez (capt), Imran Nazir, Nasir Jamshed, Kamran Akmal (wk), Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Raza Hasan.
Sri Lanka (probable): Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Angelo Mathews, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Akila Dananjaya, Ajantha Mendis.
