Sunday October 8, 2000 will be the D day and Nairobi Gymkhana Ground the battle field for a tough fight between two giants of Asia. Pakistan and Sri Lanka will face each other in an important match of the ICC Knock Out, the 11-Nation one-day tournament in progress in Kenya. Except for a few absentees, the cream of world's best players is there to clinch the honors. The Championship has already become the focus of attention of the cricket lovers all over the globe. Being a knock out tournament in which the loser does not get a second chance, no team can afford to take a match easy. There is neither a scope for complacency nor adventurism. All these factors make it a highly exciting competition.

With India staying in the background, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were the two countries who kept the cricket scene glittering in Asia for a good part of the current year. Apart from the test and one day series played on reciprocal basis, they also participated in regional championships like the Asia Cup, that Pakistan clinched. The two teams were so evenly poised or fought so well that the honors were almost equally shared.

Now when they are taking the field against each other in an African Safari, our assessment of their comparative strength remains the same except for some minor variations. While Sri Lanka had a morale boosting victory over the West Indies in their 1st match, Pakistan has come direct from a practice camp held at the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore. It should not, however, undermine the team's inherent prowess and potential for the big game.

Not to take the credit away from Sri Lanka for a convincing victory over the Caribbean, it would be pertinent to evoke the interest of cricket lovers by expressing the view that the outfit humbled and humiliated by Sri Lanka was almost the Windies 'B' team. It was a squad whose key players looked like having been swept away by a sudden storm. In the absence of Curtly Ambrose having retired, Courtney Walsh, still in suspense whether to say good bye to the game or not, Reon King and Franklyn Rose missing for other reasons, the West Indies were without their devastating pace attack, the lethal weapon they employ to terrify the opponents. In the batting line up, they played without skipper Jimmy Adams, a crafty batsman and a competent leader of men, Ricardo Powel a recognized one day batsman, Chandarpaul a useful run maker and an ever shining Sarawan who performed wonderfully well during the recently concluded tour of England. The team was even without its regular wicket keeper Ridley Jacob. The only super star they had was Brian Lara who failing to perform well, shattered all the hopes and aspirations of the team. Though Sri Lanka is capable of defeating the strongest opponent on its day, one does not find much in this victory to celebrate.

Sri Lanka was able to build up a massive score of 287 with the help of Gunawardena (132) and Jayawardena (72) against weak and ineffective bowling, a part of which may even be termed as mediocre. With a poor batting line, the Windies packed up for only 179 runs. The wicket producing sting and heavy bounce suited Sri Lanka's squad of medium pacers quite well. The danger man Murlitharan bowled a very tight spell conceding only 9 runs in his quota of 10 overs but failed to take a wicket. It was perhaps not his day. While he prevented the opponents from scoring freely, his partners performed the wicket taking role.

As for the Pakistan team it is stronger than the one that brought the country a lot of victories in the recent past. With the return of Wasim Akram, the pace attack is bound to gain more penetration, sting and venom. Saqlain Mushtaq, the Pakistan's befitting reply to Murlitharan is back from England after helping Surrey to win the County championship. With his excellent form he is also expected to turn the Pakistan bowling into a force to reckon with. Combined with Waqar Younis, Abdur Razzaq and Azhar Mahmud, Pakistan's bowling arm remains as strong as ever and quite capable of destroying any side on its day.

There is no denying the fact that Pakistan's batting has been suspect more often that not. In one match it clicks while in the other it does not. The jinx continues to be there. Shahid Afridi, the pinch hitter is not in the squad to provide thrill and excitement to the crowd with his swashbuckling shots to the boundary. Opener Saeed Anwar who holds the record of highest individual score of 194 in one day cricket has been out of form for a long time. A lot will depend on his regaining of form. Inzimam-ul-Haq is back in the side after recovering from illness. One cannot thus be sure of his standards of physical fitness and performance. The team also continues to suffer from the psychological dilemma of its preference to bat first. With such minus factors, the batsmen shall have to apply themselves in right earnest, plan their innings, take a solid start, avoid playing loose and risky shots, make best use of the gaps in fielding and show unflinching confidence and determination to win

In fielding Sri Lanka has an edge over Pakistan. Having played lot of matches against each other during the current year both the teams are well aware of the strengths and weaknesses to encounter and exploit. With the latest international ranking showing Sri Lanka at no. 2 and Pakistan at no. 3, the teams are so evenly poised in prowess that it is not possible to predict as to 'who will win? It will be a fight between the Titans that the cricket world will certainly enjoy.

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