Sri Lanka could not cash on drop catches

Well despite there being so many drop catches by Pakistan against Sri Lanka, it is a point to wander about by the Sri Lankans who are one of the favorites to at least make it to the semi-finals of the tournament. Having dropped uncountable number of catches against the co-hosts of this world cup, ending up on the winning should be on one side enjoyed to the fullest extent and on the other side worry about their fielding. Pakistan have always been poor fielders especially in crunch games like the world cup knock-outs though this is not one such game for the Pakistanis.

On the other hand as well, for Sri Lanka, being unable to make use of the opponents' poor fielding definitely needs a re-thinking when they are set to face Australia in the days to come. One need not remind me writing earlier about Sri Lanka's chances to beat Australia with their spin potent and Australia's lack of will power. I have to re0thing upon that since the day Australia beat New Zealand a couple of days back in a one sided encounter at Ahmedabad. And, even Sri Lanka's chances look slim after their debacle against Pakistan and so would be Pakistan with their opposition-friendly fielding.

One only can think about the reduction in the power of the Australian team that is found touring this world cup but, hardly anybody is able to sense the caliber of the teams which are set to face Australia-be it Pakistan or Sri Lanka. Of course, New Zealand is a matter of the past. Or else, Canada, Kenya and Zimbabwe can only be a last minute hope for any team which can at least make it to the quarter-finals of the tournament. Coming to the game between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, this was Sri Lanka's fifth defeat to Pakistan in world cups.

Scorecard reflects the team work that the Pakistani team got right when four of their top and middle order batsmen able to contribute along with a little bit from Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi. In the beginning, it looked as though the Pakistani total would go past 300+ and no credit to the Sri Lank bowlers when it was the Pakistani batsmen who made fools out of themselves. Afridi's caliber is seen in the area which he rarely concentrates and seems to fail in that area where he is expected to do a killing. Or else, a dashing batsman is seen scalping 4 wickets something which frontline bowlers couldn't manage.