SRI LANKA are determined to take again display their cavalier happy go lucky brand of cricket in tomorrow's World Cup final (Sky Sports, 9.0 a.m.). The final, pairing that most neutrals wanted sees Sri Lanka's spirit of adventure pitted against Australia, a team successfully combining flair, discipline and unlimited reserves of self belief.
The fact that there is an edge to the recent history between these teams adds spice to the final. Arjuna Ranatunga's side could be excused for thinking of final opponents Australia as the enemy, not just the opposition, after recent events.
Sri Lanka's winter tour to Australia was full of controversy. They were accused of ball tampering during a Test - a charge subsequently withdrawn under International Cricket Council instructions - and then hit by the row surrounding Muttiah Muralitharan. Two Australian umpires called Muralitharan for "throwing" on a total of 14 occasions in two matches, rulings that seemed certain to end the off spinner's career.
Muralitharan was eventually left out of the Sri Lankan team, but then named in their World Cup party when an independent expert cleared him of chucking after studying slow motion replays of his action.
Relations between the two teams hit rock bottom, meanwhile, during a bad tempered one day match in Sydney towards the end of January - and bridges carefully rebuilt throughout a peaceful Test at Adelaide were damaged again when the Australian Cricket Board announced their team would not play in Sri Lanka, in their World Cup group match, following the Colombo city centre bomb blast. With West Indies taking an identical stance on security grounds. Sri Lanka were awarded walkovers in two of their five group matches.
Sri Lanka have adopted a positive attitude during this competition. In opener Sanath Jayasuriya, they possess the competition's most valuable player - a title bestowed upon him yesterday by a distinguished World Cup panel of former international stars, in recognition of his blistering batting and distinctly useful spin bowling. The Sri Lankans are mentally tougher than they were even a year ago, too.
Mark Waugh's three centuries and Shane Warne's superb leg spin efforts have grabbed the headlines for Australia, but they have numerous reliable assistants and Taylor's captaincy has been consistently first class.
The final could hinge on which of the respective star batsmen - Mark Waugh and Jayasuriya - bounce back from disappointing semi final performances with the blade.
If Sri Lanka do win, Taylor's words early in the tournament will have proved prophetic. "All of a sudden people are starting to talk about Sri Lanka winning the World Cup," he said in Visakhaptnam last month. "That was unheard of eight years ago. They were the ones you walked up to and got your two points against."
