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Tillakratne Dilshan and old war-horse Sanath Jayasuriya have provided the kind of start to Sri Lanka that every team would dream of. Their Quickstart Batting performance is crucial to maintaining the Lankan’s further advance in this Championship.

According to Castrol Index, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya have contributed 48% of total runs scored for Sri Lanka. Dilshan has amassed 173 runs due to a good mix of boundary shots (25% of deliveries he faces are despatched to boundaries) and singles and two’s. The Table shows that QuickStart Bat of Sri Lanka is driven by superb batting performance of Dilshan.

Effect of Dilshan’s batting performance on Sri Lanka’s scoring rate

If Dilshan goes cheaply, a sense of panic prevails upon Sri Lanka as was seen in their previous match against Ireland. New Zealand would draw inspiration from the Irish bowling performance during the powerplay that restricted Sri Lanka to a low score. The Kiwis depend on early breakthroughs from Kyle Mills and James Franklin while skipper Daniel Vettori acts as a miserly bowler who’s difficult to score off, especially in the death overs. New Zealand, being vulnerable to spin, may be surprised if Sri Lanka deploys Muttiah Muralitharan during the Powerplay.  During the death overs, Lasith Malinga’s yorkers apply the brakes to the opposition, while Ajantha Mendis capitalises on his deceptive length deliveries during the middle overs to pick up crucial wickets.