Sri Lanka have suffered with the absence of some star players but in no way, have Zimbabwe been anything but impressive. Their batsmen have fired and Brendan Taylor - with 276 runs in four games - is the leading run-scorer in the tournament. But their main weapon has been their spin attack that has caused trouble to both oppositions as they look to win their first multi-nation tournament involving Test playing nations.
India barely made any impression during the tournament and headed back before the final. But Sri Lanka have and cannot be ruled out as a threat. Their opening batsmen are in-form but it is the middle-order which is their main worry. Against Zimbabwe - barring the openers - no batsman made more than 16 runs in a match they lost by eight wickets.
But they will be boosted by the return of new-ball bowler Nuwan Kulasekara and Ajantha Mendis, who missed the dead rubber against Zimbabwe. Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan also hinted that Angelo Mathews might come back as well. Beating them twice in a row will be difficult.
Published in the Express Tribune, June 9th, 2010.
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