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Pitch blow to Sri Lankan hopes
Report from AFP
28 January 1999
PERTH, Australia, Jan 28 (AFP) - Sri Lanka's outside hopes of reaching the finals of the lucrative tri-nations one-day cricket tournament received a further major blow here Thursday. While practising for crucial matches against England on Friday and Australia on Sunday at the WACA Ground, the world one-day champions learned both clashes will be played on the bouncy number four wicket on which they began their tour disastrously a month ago.
Ground assistant curator Rowan Mathews said: ``The pitch may not be quite as bouncy as on January 3, but I believe there will still be a fair bit of bounce for the fast bowlers.''
In their tour-opener, Sri Lanka crashed to 89 all out against an Australia A side, with only four of their batsmen reaching double figures in an innings lasting a mere 25.1 overs.
Medium-pacer Shane Lee (4-11) and express bowler Matt Nicholson (2-22) caused the devastation. Australia A rattled up 92-2 from 18 overs to win by eight wickets.
In an exhibition match played on the same day for the benefit of disappointed spectators, Sri Lanka fared only marginally better, reaching 133-7 from 25 overs before being crushed by the home side a second time.
Sri Lanka need to win both weekend games to become serious contenders for the best-of-three finals next month, when the winners pocket 100,000 Australian dollars (63,000 US) and the runner-up receives 50,000 dollars. They are languishing at the bottom of the ladder, with two wins from six games, while Australia and England have four wins from seven outings.
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