SL push to consolidate position

 Bangladesh's win over England means the quarter-finalists are decided in Pool A, and all that remains is to settle their positions. Should results fall as form would suggest, Sri Lanka will finish third in the group and Bangladesh fourth. But Scotland can throw those predictions off if they manage to beat Sri Lanka or Australia over the next week in Hobart. It would be some sort of story; Scotland debuted in the World Cup in 1999 but are yet to win a game.

So far in this tournament, Sri Lanka have beaten England, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, and lost to Australia and New Zealand. Their plans have been affected by injuries, though, with four changes already made to the squad. Dinesh Chandimal is the latest casualty, ruled out after suffering a hamstring strain during the loss to Australia. Rangana Herath is also nursing a finger injury but remains part of the squad.

In the spotlight

Kyle Coetzer has enjoyed a strong month against the Full Members, having scored 96 in a World Cup warm-up against West Indies, followed in the tournament proper by 71 against England and 156 against Bangladesh. If anyone is likely to deliver Scotland a challenging total against Sri Lanka, it is Coetzer.

Sri Lanka have pinned plenty of hopes on Lasith Malinga's recovery of fitness and form, and against Australia, Malinga appeared to be nearing his best. His deliveries still barely breached 140kph, but the yorkers were tailing into middle stump again, and the bouncers and slower balls were finding their targets as well. Despite bowling in the most hectic phases of the innings, Malinga traveled at less than a run-a-ball. His fielding appears to be gradually improving too, and Sri Lanka may well have him peaking by the quarter-final, as they had always hoped. They just need to find him some adequate support.

Team news

Scotland have a full squad to select from, though they were waiting to see the pitch before deciding whether any changes would be made.

Scotland (possible) 1 Kyle Coetzer, 2 Calum MacLeod, 3 Hamish Gardiner, 4 Matt Machan, 5 Preston Mommsen (capt), 6 Richie Berrington, 7 Matthew Cross (wk), 8 Josh Davey, 9 Majid Haq, 10 Alasdair Evans, 11 Iain Wardlaw

New entrant Kusal Perera may play in Chandimal's stead. Herath is also unavailable. Sri Lanka will likely jettison one of their specialist spin bowlers for this match, which would allow Suranga Lakmal to return to the XI. There is also a chance Dushmantha Chameera could play, if Sri Lanka opt for four specialist bowlers.

Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Lahiru Thirimanne, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Kusal Perera 7 Upul Tharanga/Dushmantha Chameera, 8 Thisara Perara, 9 Seekkuge Prasanna, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Suranga Lakmal

Pitch and conditions

The Bellerive pitch has been high scoring this summer, with Australia chasing down 304 against England in January and Zimbabwe almost overhauling Ireland's 331 on Saturday. The forecast for Wednesday is for a partly cloudy day and a top of 22C.

Stats and trivia

These teams have met only once before: Sri Lanka enjoyed a 183-run victory in Edinburgh in July 2011

Kyle Coetzer is 29 runs away from becoming the third man to score 1000 ODI runs for Scotland

Kumar Sangakkara is the only batsman to have scored more than one century in this World Cup. He has made three

Masti Khel clarifies his position to Mian Nawaz Sharif through a letter

ISLAMABAD: Member of Punjab Assembly Sana Ullah Masti Khel had sent a letter to Mian Nawaz Sharif clarifying his position with reference to presentation of resolution against media in the provincial assembly besides giving details about the circumstance under which the resolution was moved.

In his letter Sana Ullah Masti Khel said 17 members of all the parties being represented in the assembly had worked out the resolution and the main factor behind tabling the resolution was the resentment sparked by the baseless criticism and irresponsible reporting by a section of the press against the members of assembly.

“It is correct that I should have brought the resolution into the notice of party leadership before its presentation but such a situation had been created by the speeches delivered by members of assembly that forced him to move this resolution. The resolution was not based on any malafide intent.

He hoped that Mian Nawaz Sharif would accept his regret otherwise whatever decision was taken by PML-N Quaid would be acceptable to him.

PML-N Quaid has constituted a special committee under senior provincial advisor Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa to work out its recommendation on this matter. The committee will finalize its recommendations within 3 days and submit the report to Mian Nawaz Sharif.

Masti Khel clarifies his position to Mian Nawaz Sharif through a letter

ISLAMABAD: Member of Punjab Assembly Sana Ullah Masti Khel had sent a letter to Mian Nawaz Sharif clarifying his position with reference to presentation of resolution against media in the provincial assembly besides giving details about the circumstance under which the resolution was moved.

In his letter Sana Ullah Masti Khel said 17 members of all the parties being represented in the assembly had worked out the resolution and the main factor behind tabling the resolution was the resentment sparked by the baseless criticism and irresponsible reporting by a section of the press against the members of assembly.

“It is correct that I should have brought the resolution into the notice of party leadership before its presentation but such a situation had been created by the speeches delivered by members of assembly that forced him to move this resolution. The resolution was not based on any malafide intent.

He hoped that Mian Nawaz Sharif would accept his regret otherwise whatever decision was taken by PML-N Quaid would be acceptable to him.

PML-N Quaid has constituted a special committee under senior provincial advisor Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa to work out its recommendation on this matter. The committee will finalize its recommendations within 3 days and submit the report to Mian Nawaz Sharif.