Sri Lanka's World Cup campaign was dealt a blow yesterday when Lasith Malinga, their striking slinga, tore a ligament in his left ankle at the nets and has been ruled out of the New Zealand match tomorrow and almost certainly the Oz match a few days later. Although Maharoof is a competent bowler, I don't think that he has Malinga's presence and this could be a handicap for the islanders. I expected NZ and OZ to beat them anyway, but they will have to be careful to keep up a good run rate in case there is a late surge from England. With Ireland still to play, Sri Lanka should get to 8 points easily even if they lose to both NZ and Oz, the same number that England will reach if they win all three of their remaining matches.

Malinga is expected to get back into action by the time the semi-finals arrive.

The injuries at this WC keep on coming.

Sri Lankan fans dont need to worry, the team should still qualify even after the kiwis beat them.

Malinga is a loss but only for the second half of the innings when his old ball bowling is so effective. By playing Maharoof you lose nothing in your new ball attack.

Yes that is a big blow for Sri Lanka the loss of Malinga.. But Maharoof can sure hit a cricket ball, he has a pretty good batting record against the Kiwis and not a bad wicket taking abillity either. I read in the paper that Jayawardena (excuse the spelling) sri Lankan captain said that he is not worried about malinga missing the game and that he wud rather save him for the semis.. he also added that he is confident that they can beat the kiwis without him, he said that they had a good run against the kiwis when they last visited NZ late last year, and hes confident that they will beat the kiwis in tomorrows game.. Good luck to them, it shud be a cracker of a game, i cant wait..

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Dont jump in the water if you cant swim

This could work in favour of Sri Lanka. Australia will not see him until the semi's, a knock-out situation would be the perfect time to unleash him, and catch them off guard !

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- VVVRulz..

But if it really is a torn ankle ligament, it is quite a bad injury. Unless it is a very small tear, I doubt if Malinga can be fit for any further matches in this World Cup.