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Two distinctive styles on display at World Cup
John Mehaffey
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April 16, 2007 14:02 IST
Two distinctive approaches to one-day cricket will be on display at the Grenada National Stadium on Monday when defending champions Australia meet Sri Lanka in the World Cup Super Eights.

Both teams have already qualified for the semi-finals on April 24 and 25 with the final scheduled for Barbados on April 28.

Australia, unbeaten in 25 matches since losing to Pakistan at the 1999 tournament, have developed a muscular, aggressive approach to limited overs cricket based on the big-hitting of Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds.

They then unleash the raw pace of Shaun Tait at the start, middle and end of the innings backed by a variety of medium-pace and Brad Hogg's left-arm wrist spin.

Their ground fielding, with captain Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Symonds in the circle, is exceptional.

Sri Lanka, who defeated Australia in the 1996 final, open their batting with the explosive Sanath Jayasuriya who relies on bat speed and hand-eye coordination.

Their remaining batsmen are more orthodox and the bowling, once Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga -- who is set to miss Monday's clash with an ankle injury -- have finished with the new ball relies heavily on spin. Their fielding is dependable but does not match the standards set by Australia.

"From our personal point of view it would be great to win tomorrow and continue the momentum," Sri Lanka's Australia coach Tom Moody told a news conference on Sunday.

"The most important thing is that we concentrate on our brand of cricket and don't try to chase Australia's style.

"They play a unique style that has been successful and admired by all the cricketing world. What's made Sri Lanka successful is concentrating on our brand of cricket."

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