You are Tom Moody - How can you beat the Aussies?

[Saj]

Its the night before the World Cup final and you are about to give the most important team talk of your life to the Sri Lankan squad.

What would you focus on, what are the Aussie weaknesses, what aspects of the game should the Sri Lankans be focussing upon?

[TAK]

setting the fie alram off in the australlian hotel about 3.30 am might help

[MCMLXXXII]

Get everyone to wear Malinga wigs. You think Jayasuriya is threatening? Wait till you see him with hair like Malinga!

[the_game]

Gilchrist and Hussey out of form, capitalize on that. Watson is rubbish, attack his bowling. In fact, if someone can take the initiative and attack McGrath a bit, Tait and Watson will come under immense pressure and thus can be hit around easily. They will play Hogg well, which is a big plus. That's all I can see.

[OZGOD]

Originally Posted by Saj Its the night before the World Cup final and you are about to give the most important team talk of your life to the Sri Lankan squad. What would you focus on, what are the Aussie weaknesses, what aspects of the game should the Sri Lankans be focussing upon?

1. Bat well
2. Bowl well
3. Field well

[Uzzy]

Originally Posted by OZGOD 1. Bat well 2. Bowl well 3. Field well

Pretty much spot on.

Just do the basics.

[Amjid Javed]

I think that Aussies have been shown to struggle against the Sri lankan slow bowlers in past on occasions when they have been brought on early in the game. I think murali, jayasuriya and dilshan will have to bowl well in final.

Also traditionally when the sri lankans have tended to beat the Aussies usually Jayasuriya has fired.

No team has really tamed the Aussies batting line up in this tourney and to win it sri lanka will have to do just that!

[siddharth]

The first thing is to calm ur self down .Rest is not that difficult

[Amjid Javed]

I think in last two world cup finals the oppostion facing aussies on the day have firstly got it wrong with the toss and what to do. Secondly I think mentally sri lanka have to blv they can win the final because if not they have no chance!

[BD-fan]

Show them two videos and a slide show.
1. Highlights Ali's fight against Mean Joe, and G Foreman.
2. Highlights of SL's WC finals against Aussies.
3. Tsunami's slide show.

Would let them sleep on that.

[desidudecool]

tom moody was part of the aussie squad which beat pak in 99 final.not sure how much he wants to beat australia.lol.but jokes aside.i think srilanka has the best chance of all the teams in the competition to beat aus.they have to learn from the mistakes that south africancs have made in this match.if they bat first they should not look to play any risky shots in the first 10 even if the runs are not coming.keeping wickets in hand would be the key going into the last 10.remeber australias 5th bowler is a weak one.their bowling and fielding is good but a big concern is fernando his problems need to be sorted out or they would have to play maharoof whos a target bowler for every team.

[fakhar]

Originally Posted by TAK setting the fie alram off in the australlian hotel about 3.30 am might help

nice

[safehands46]

put some laxative in aussie player food.

[OZGOD]

Originally Posted by safehands46 put some laxative in aussie player food.

LOL that's how SA beat the NZ All Blacks in the rugby - they had a waitress named Suzie poison their food...

[waqar_ahmad]

Fleming said before the semi final that lankans have the best bowling attack in the tournament. their bowling is the best i have ever seen for the lankans. they need to attack the aussies from the word go and malinga, vaas and murli have to fire

[hasbeen]

tell them to just go out and play with no pressure. tell them everyone is predicting an easy win for aussies and all the pressure will be on aussies to deliver.

to the batsmen i would say, try to set a a respectable total as we have the bowlers to defend anything over 220.

or in the words of sir alex, tell them that if you lose you cant touch the trophy but you can walk past it on the way to picking up your runners up medal

[kasoo10]

Australia have scared most of the teams. Teams are scared of them. I will tell Lankans that Australis is just like any other team and they are beatable. They are beatable if opposing team plays better cricket.

[Raz]

Win the toss and depending on conditions I would go with Sri Lanka bowling first. They have the firepower to knock over the Aussies cheaply and then have the batting to chase down the total.

Aussies are most vulnerable I believe when they bat first and then have to defend. New Zealand showed in 3 games that when their bowlers are attacked, they seem to be defenceless and almost helpless to act. South Africa also nearly showed it in this tournament, when they were something like 161-0 or 1 after 21 overs and should have won the game chasing down that 350 plus score.

[Asim2Good]

Originally Posted by Raz Win the toss and depending on conditions I would go with Sri Lanka bowling first. They have the firepower to knock over the Aussies cheaply and then have the batting to chase down the total. Aussies are most vulnerable I believe when they bat first and then have to defend. New Zealand showed in 3 games that when their bowlers are attacked, they seem to be defenceless and almost helpless to act. South Africa also nearly showed it in this tournament, when they were something like 161-0 or 1 after 21 overs and should have won the game chasing down that 350 plus score.

depending on condition is main thing otherwise it's not good idea to let Aus bat first. They just love to bat first.

[Usman Chadda]

Originally Posted by Raz Win the toss and depending on conditions I would go with Sri Lanka bowling first. They have the firepower to knock over the Aussies cheaply and then have the batting to chase down the total. Aussies are most vulnerable I believe when they bat first and then have to defend. New Zealand showed in 3 games that when their bowlers are attacked, they seem to be defenceless and almost helpless to act. South Africa also nearly showed it in this tournament, when they were something like 161-0 or 1 after 21 overs and should have won the game chasing down that 350 plus score.

Sri Lanka bowling first will be suicidal. Australian batsmen, the kind of form they re in, would demolish the bowling to all parts and end up with a score of 300+

Sri Lanka should look to bat first and then try and make a score of 280-300. They can then apply the tactic of choking the Aussie batsmen for runs

[Hussain]

show them highlites of 1996 cup final where they mauled the same opposition against odds

[UJ]

Focus on their strength, which is their bowling. All they need is a good total by batting sensibly and not throwing away wickets at the start of teh innings like SAF did yesterday. Then defend the total like they've never defended before.

[Hussain]

play to your strenghts
its Australians which are under pressure of expectations

[Daoud]

Originally Posted by UJ Focus on their strength, which is their bowling. All they need is a good total by batting sensibly and not throwing away wickets at the start of teh innings like SAF did yesterday. Then defend the total like they've never defended before.

If their batsmen play shots like Prince did then good luck to them. Their bowlers I can back to do pretty well just not get overawed. The same applies to the batsmen but they need to play smart too

[Shayan]

I think SL's best chance is to bat first and get 250+, i think they'll be able to defend that.

[desidudecool]

maharoof will replace fernando who had a nightmare in the last game.thats bit of a blow to srilanka because i thought fernando with his extra pace was bowling really well and would have been just as much of a threat as malinga

[infamous9383]

Jasuriya has to fire at the top of the order for SL to have a chance. Murali,vaas, and Malinga need to be at their best and it might take a 5-35 performance from one of these for SL to win the cup. Middle order needs to contribute. Pretty much everything has to fire for them to win. and I THINK THEY WILL

[Umta]

I dont understand how the mentality of teams towards Australia is keeping Australia unbeatable. Most teams lose before the start of the game. Its all psychological. The thing is that most teams lose early wickets and they stay under pressure. You have to understand that keeping wickets in hand and blasting at the end is the best strategy against them. There bowlers are very good and you have to take shine off the ball and hit out at the end even if it means keeping slower rate in the beginning. Just like Imran and Miandad did it 1992 world cup. They played slow in the beginning only to hit later. That strategy worked really well for them

[iafzal]

Play within your game plan and abilities and don't try to do to much otherwise you will lose like SA.

Look when Ponting called out ... Kallis that he is too slow and he hopes he is in the middle batting early... and what happens Kallis comes to the wicket early and unlike his ususal self tries to be agressive and gets cleaned up. rest was history from there.

[Rickz]

Sri Lanka's best chance is batting first and getting a total around 250, with pace ace Malinga(Australia have never faced him before), economical accurate bowler is Vass, attacking bowler in Murali, plus spin bowlers in Jayasuriya and Dilshan, Sri Lanka should be able to defend that, and their feilding is very good too, so thats a bonus.

Like some posters stated, bowling first would be suicidal, Australia batsmen are in great form, even 230 would be very hard to chase agaisnt them, Sri Lanka will be under pressure to score runs in the second innings.

Play like Pakistan did in the 1992 world cup final, try to attack with the first two opening batsmen, then if things don't come out to plan, settle down for a long partership and preserve wickets in hand and it that way Sri Lanka can smack it in the last 12 overs to get them to a total of 250 or plus.

[Rickz]

Originally Posted by the_game Gilchrist and Hussey out of form, capitalize on that. Watson is rubbish, attack his bowling. In fact, if someone can take the initiative and attack McGrath a bit, Tait and Watson will come under immense pressure and thus can be hit around easily. They will play Hogg well, which is a big plus. That's all I can see.

Spot on.

[Inswinging Yorker]

get the basics right, learn from jayawardane calm collect and with a plan.

plain and simple

[hindsy]

Originally Posted by the_game Gilchrist and Hussey out of form, capitalize on that. Watson is rubbish, attack his bowling. In fact, if someone can take the initiative and attack McGrath a bit, Tait and Watson will come under immense pressure and thus can be hit around easily. They will play Hogg well, which is a big plus. That's all I can see.

Thats a fair analysis, if they get either Hayden or Ponting early it would also really raise the pressure on those guys out of form.

[cricket_crazy]

If Srilanka get the basics right they will win.

Aussies will crumble under pressure this time for sure.

[siddharth]

Originally Posted by the_game [i]Gilchrist and Hussey out of form, capitalize on that. Watson is rubbish, attack his bowling. In fact, if someone can take the initiative and attack McGrath a bit, Tait and Watson will come under immense pressure and thus can be hit around easily. They will play Hogg well, which is a big plus. That's all I can see.[/i]

Indeed ,Lankans are capitalising on that

[the_game]

Originally Posted by siddharth Indeed ,Lankans are capitalising on that

He was due a big score, my friend, he was freakin' due! He is too good a player.

[Oxy]

With hindsight, you make sure Gilchrist gets food poisoning the night before the final....

[siddharth]

Originally Posted by Oxy With hindsight, you make sure Gilchrist gets food poisoning the night before the final....

Then the out of form "hussey'' will be in form.I would make sure that the whole team get food poisoning.

[SameerM]

By not agreeing to play a 38 over game .. when they HAVE an extra day SPARE for situations JUST like this!

[tradecars]

Originally Posted by Saj Its the night before the World Cup final and you are about to give the most important team talk of your life to the Sri Lankan squad. What would you focus on, what are the Aussie weaknesses, what aspects of the game should the Sri Lankans be focussing upon?

as inzi would say the boys would have to pray well !!!!!!