Cricinfo - Teams on level footing after first round at Morocco

The first round of the Morocco Cup 2002 ended with great excitement when Sri Lanka inflicted a crushing defeat upon the South Africans. This left the three teams with one victory each, with Sri Lanka having the added advantage of a bonus point under their belt. This has set a thrilling precedent for the second round of the tournament, as all teams need to work very hard now to qualify for the final.

The South Africans had emerged as the early favourites when they beat Pakistan in the opening encounter, and most people expected them to roll over the hapless Sri Lankans who had suffered yet another defeat at the hands of Pakistan. Very few people expected the excellent rejoinder from Sri Lanka after their miserable tour of England, where they won only one match out of six in the Natwest trophy, but they showed a lot of resolve and came back with a tremendous victory over the highly professional South African outfit. The bonus point is of extreme importance because now Sri Lanka needs only one victory to qualify for the final. That means that the upcoming match between Pakistan and South Africa is of prime importance to both sides.

Another factor that is possibly going to play a major factor in the matches to come is the toss. After taking a look at the results of the first three matches, it has become quite obvious that the side batting first has a significant advantage. The pitch becomes slow and the ball keeps low in the second innings. Besides that with pitches being used for the second time, as was the case in the match between Sri Lanka and South Africa, they have started cracking up and are taking a lot of turn in the second innings. The pitches in Tangiers, like those in Sharjah, are of a dusty nature, hence when re-used they begin to crumble and turn prodigiously. In the last match Muralitharan and Upul Chandana got the ball turning square off the track, causing immense problems for the South Africans, who have a reputation of not handling spinners too well. All of this leaves the captains and management of all the teams a lot too think about.

Firstly, it is unlikely that any captain shall opt to bowl first after winning the toss. Sanath Jayasuria made that mistake in the game against Pakistan and that proved quite costly. Secondly, the spinners will play a bigger role for each team, at least they should after all the indications in the last match. The South Africans have only Nicky Boje to rely on, who is not yet a world-class spinner and is included in the side for his all-round skills.

The Pakistan think tank will also be facing a dilemma, because Saqlain Mushtaq's performance in the first match was quite poor, while Mohammed Sami was quite impressive in the match against Sri Lanka. With the pitches favouring spin, the Pakistanis would be wondering whether they should take a chance and include Saqlain in the upcoming matches. Afridi on the other hand is doing a great job with the ball and his style of bowling suits the conditions at hand.

Sri Lanka are the team with the greatest advantage at the moment, as they have no shortage of spinners in the side. Muralitharan and Chandana are bowling brilliantly, while the likes of Jayasuriya, Aravinda De Silva, and Russel Arnold are extremely useful under the current circumstances.

As for individual performances, quite a few players have stood out in the initial matches. For South Africa, Herchelle Gibbs stroked an attractive century in the first match against Pakistan, while Alan Donald seems to be bowling quite well. He may have lost some pace over the years, but he seems to be relishing the opportunity to come in first change and is bowling on a very tight line and length. South Africa will be hoping that the two world-class all rounders, Klusener and Kallis will get going with the bat as the tournament progresses. Waqar Younis has really stood out for Pakistan with his bowling as well as his captaincy. His figures of 5 for 38 in the first match were very impressive in such batting friendly conditions. Saeed Anwar seems to have re-discovered some form which is quite encouraging, while Younis Khan seems to have improved by leaps and bounds over the last six months. He has matured tremendously, scoring on a consistent basis, and more significantly at a rapid rate as well. The Sri-Lankans will be overjoyed by the performance of Aravinda de Silva. They had been facing major problems with their middle order, and he seems to provide the necessary stability in that position. Muralitharan, is magical as ever, confusing all the batsman with his masterful spin bowling. Virtually no one can pick his away going deliveries, and as a result none of the batsmen have played him with any authority what so ever.

All of this means that we have a thrilling second round to look forward to, as all three teams battle it out for places in the finals, which are most certainly up for grabs.

Teams on level footing after first round at Morocco

The first round of the Morocco Cup 2002 ended with great excitement when Sri Lanka inflicted a crushing defeat upon the South Africans