26 February,2011 11:55 AM IST | | AFP
Pakistan face the mesmerising skills of Muttiah Muralitharan and Lasith Malinga in a key World Cup clash against Sri Lanka Saturday as Bangalore goes on alert for the India-England showdown.
A sell-out crowd of 35,000 in Colombo will witness the much-anticipated Group A clash between 1992 winners Pakistan and 1996 champions Sri Lanka, who both enjoyed convincing opening victories.
Pakistan, who crushed Kenya by 205 runs, have never lost a World Cup match against Sri Lanka in six previous attempts, but the last time they met was in 1992, before Sri Lanka became one of the game's global powers.
Pakistan coach Waqar Younis played down the threat from spin wizard Muralitharan ahead of the big game, saying their batsmen had coped with him in the past.
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"In the past, if Muralitharan had plans for us, we have played really well against him in this country.
"I don't think we should worry about him that much, he is not 28 anymore," said Waqar of the 38-year-old off-spinner, who has 521 wickets in 342 one-day internationals -- a world record.
"It is not going to be easy for him any more. We are prepared not only for him but the entire team because we know it's an important match for us and we need to keep the momentum going."
But Waqar admitted Sri Lanka would be tough to beat in home conditions.
"Sri Lanka on their home ground are very good, very difficult to beat. Here the conditions and weather help them, but the way we have played and trained and with our momentum, I am hopeful we can beat them," said the coach.
Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara said fast bowler Malinga, renowned for his slingy action, was likely to feature after missing the 210-run win against Canada because of a back strain.
"He (Malinga) had just pulled up a bit stiff before the first game. We are just making sure that he is 100 per cent before we start playing him because we have a long World Cup campaign," Sangakkara said.
Sangakarra warned that Pakistan were a dangerous side.
"They've got great balance, they've got match-winning cricketers, not just one but quite a lot of them, so any opposition is wary of them and we are not going to take anything lightly or for granted."
Meanwhile, anticipation is building ahead of Sunday's heavyweight clash in Bangalore between India and England, with 3,000 police set to be deployed following midweek violence when fans desperately scrambled for tickets.
Police baton-charged fans after thousands had queued overnight Wednesday outside the M. Chinnaswamy stadium in the vain hope of getting their hands on the ticket allocation of 7,000.
The West Indies' World Cup hopes suffered a major body blow when key all-rounder Dwayne Bravo was ruled out of the rest of the tournament with an injury to his left knee.
Bravo, a veteran of 110 internationals, suffered the injury while bowling in his team's opening defeat against South Africa on Thursday and will fly back to the Caribbean for treatment.
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