Under-pressure Australia coach Mickey Arthur has described Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga as the best death bowler in the world, the AFP reported.
“Malinga is a phenomenon. He’s the best death bowler in the world without a doubt at the moment,” Arthur said.
“All our players have faced quite a bit of Malinga and we’ll have our plans, come the game.”
“You talk about the big three in Sri Lanka’s batting; Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. Sri Lanka have built up a really nice unit.”
Australia does at least have some recent experience of facing Malinga, having played 10 one-dayers against Sri Lanka during the past 18 months.
Titleholder Australia must beat Sri Lanka at The Oval on Monday night to have any chance of qualifying for the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy.
But it will go into the key fixture still facing questions about team culture after Australia opening batsman Warner’s attack on England’s Joe Root in a Birmingham bar a week ago.
Warner was suspended until the start of the Ashes series by Cricket Australia on Thursday and fined $11,500.
That means he will miss Monday’s match, in which Australia needs to overcome the unique challenge posed by slingshot seamer Malinga, renowned for his yorkers, if it is to reach the last four.
The Australians’ chances are in part dependent on the outcome of the overnight Group A match between England and New Zealand in Cardiff.
A New Zealand victory would mean Australia faces a straight “quarter-final” with Sri Lanka but an England win would mean it must beat Sri Lanka by a large margin to surpass New Zealand’s net run rate, currently the best in the group.
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
