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NEWS ICC Champions Trophy 2006>Jayawardene banking on spinners 23rd Oct 2006 19.42 IST By Agencies Sri Lankan skipper Mahela de Silva Jayawardene is banking on his spinners to play a big role in the crucial Champions Trophy match against South Africa as the track could assist the slow bowlers. Jayawardene also said it was a very important game for his team but it had not put any added pressure on his side.
He said a win would consolidate their chances of making the semi-final from the Group B. "I don't know all the calculations, but I think if we win we are more likely to get into the semi finals," he said. Jayawardene said his side had a lot of part time spinners who could come handy as wickets in India generally assist slow bowlers. "We don't know to what extent the wicket will spin. But our part time spinners can adjust to different conditions," the star batsman said. Jayawardene said his side was fortunate to have a spinner of the class of Mutiah Muralitharan "who is something special" and the seasoned Sanath Teran Jayasuriya in the slow bowling department. He, however, laid stress on coming out with a total team effort at the Motera stadium. "It is for all individuals to got out and play their game," he said. Jayawardene also hinted that Dilhara Fernando would be among the final XI. Jayawardene praised young talent Upul Tharanga , who has cracked two hundreds apart from a 50-plus score in the ongoing Champions Trophy so far, but denied that other batsmen had failed to live up to the expectation. "Had they not been playing well, we would not have done so well in the recent past. The emphasis is on the top four guys getting runs. Tharanga has done really well. But I am also happy with the way the other guys are playing," he said. The Lankan skipper said Jayasuriya was in a great mood after visiting home to see his newly born baby. "Everybody in the side is happy for him. He is an important member of the team. If he can hit a century it will be brilliant. But we are not putting any pressure on him." Sri Lankan coach Tom Moody said it would be premature to predict whether the title would go to a side from the sub-continent. "We have seen lot of favourite sides lose in the last few days. We are now only concentrating on tomorrow’s game as our first objective is to enter the semis." Asked about the controversy over low scoring matches on turning tracks during the tournament, Moody said "I don’t have an issue with the wickets turning or producing competitive scores of around 200 odd, the only question mark everyone has is the bearing the dew will have over the game". Also View In-Depth Coverage: ICC Champions Trophy 2006 Team Page: Sri Lanka Team Page: South Africa | LIVE CRICKET COVERAGE NEWS ~ Gilchrist has no plans to retire after World Cup ~ Ganguly's new batting approach may cost him sixer record ~ India 'squash the Orange' in World Cup warm-up game ~ Symonds gets a new hairdo for World Cup ~ Dhoni readies himself for stand-up act at World Cup (more in NEWS) FACE-TO-FACE ~ 500-mark a possibility in World Cup: Hayden ~ Minnows add charm to World Cup: Dravid (more in FACE-TO-FACE) COLUMNS ~ Will Sri Lanka replicate 1996 World Cup success? (more in COLUMNS) OFF-THE-FIELD ~ Ganguly again the darling of corporate world ~ Ganguly roped in as brand ambassador of Puma (more in OFF-THE-FIELD) PLAYERS Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble (more PLAYERS) TEAMS India, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies, Zimbabwe, England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya, Holland | 
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