Sri Lanka vs New Zealand : Both teams look for momentum ahead of the quarter finals

Perhaps the biggest talking point in the Sri Lanka- New Zealand clash is that the co- hosts are being made to play away from home. Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan have earlier said that playing at the venue of the World Cup final serves as an ideal preparation, but on Thursday, captain Kumara Sangakkara said they would miss their home crowd in Friday’s Group A match.

“ I think it’s always nice to play at home, in front of your home crowd and it’s the same situation for New Zealand and Sri Lanka for this game. Wickets in India seem to be more balanced than wickets in Sri Lanka. Here batting first or chasing is not much of a disadvantage, whereas in Sri Lanka the conditions do change to give the advantage to a certain side. And the totals seem to be higher here,” Sangakkara told reporters on the eve of the match in Mumbai.

“ Sometimes at certain stages when you don’t have that huge (crowd) presence, the huge expectations — maybe it is a bit easier. But they are very interested and are watching from home. We miss them greatly, at the same time we know if we win tomorrow we can give them something special.” Momentum is an oft- used word, but in a match where both teams have qualified for the quarterfinals, Sangakkara believes victory or defeat will not be as crucial. “ Every side likes to build momentum and take it in to the important stage. At the same time the side which does not win some first round games might win the final. The quarters, semis and finals are what really count — where it’s do- or- die,” he said.

Thursday marked the 15th anniversary of Sri Lanka winning their first, and only, World Cup, and the captain said they were using the victory of Arjuna Ranatunga’s team as an inspiration. “ That was inspiring to the whole country at that time. We look to it at certain times to learn things but we’ve got to forge own future,” he said.

The batting powerplay has proven to be a bit of a gamble at this World Cup, but Sangakkara believes there’s no point dwelling too much on it. “ One shouldn’t let the powerplay dominate too much of your thought and strategy. I think sometimes you can get too caught up in that. Every team which thinks of doing too much — it can cost you and turn games. You can use it to bowl out key bowlers of the opposition and you can use it to gather momentum. Scoring a huge amount of runs is not the only thing you can do with the powerplay.” For his part, Kiwi all- rounder Nathan McCullum believes making the quarter- finals alone is not satisfactory for the team.

“ We are excited to be there, but the job is not done. We are going into this match and the future games with the purpose of winning. We have a proud record in multi- team tournaments, but we haven’t won anything for a long time, so we are striving for consistency in all departments,” McCullum said.

The off- spinner believes Muttiah Muralitharan is the biggest threat to his team. “ Obviously Murali is a huge threat on any wicket. We played on this wicket on Sunday and we expect it to change a bit — I think it’s going to slow up, and tackling him will be the key,” he said.