PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka (AP) — Muttiah Muralitharan's lap of honor at the World Cup makes a stop in his hometown on Thursday when Sri Lanka takes on Zimbabwe in a Group A match in a new stadium on the outskirts of Kandy.
The leading wicket taker in both test and limited-overs cricket is retiring after the World Cup, and is desperate to help Sri Lanka win the quadrennial tournament for a second time.
Knowing that a win over Zimbabwe will go a long way to securing a place in the quarterfinals, there's no chance Muralitharan and the rest of the Sri Lankans will take the struggling African lineup lightly.
"Our focus is on the immediate game that's coming up," skipper Kumar Sangakkara said, cutting short questions about quarterfinal permutations. "It doesn't matter really until you qualify.
"It doesn't really matter where you finish up, you need to beat every single team, every good team to get into the final to win the World Cup."
The Sri Lankans went into the tournament among the three favorites for the title, but have already had a loss — by 11 runs to 1992 champion Pakistan — and had to share the points against three-time defending champion Australia. The Sri Lankans batted through 32 overs in Colombo before the match against Australia was washed out by heavy rain.
It was an anticlimax to one of the most anticipated matches of the group stage, being a replay of the 2007 final which Australia won at Barbados. That was the fourth consecutive World Cup final Australia featured in, starting the sequence with a loss to a Sri Lankan lineup featuring Muralitharan in 1996 before winning three straight titles.
Even without a chance to bowl in its previous start, Sri Lanka should be too powerful for Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe's batting lineup has twice crumbled in losses to Australia and New Zealand, but was solid enough to ensure a win over Canada.
Opening batsmen Charles Coventry and Brendan Taylor have failed so far to give their team a decent start and will again be tested by the likes of Sri Lankan paceman Lasith Malinga.
"It is always hard against a bigger team," skipper Elton Chigumbura admitted after a 10-wicket loss to New Zealand in the last match.
Zimbabwe recovered well after losing openers against Canada with Tatenda Taibu and Craig Ervine scoring half centuries in a strong total of 298-9.
But against New Zealand, the top order again struggled against pace and Zimbabwe was dismissed for 162.
"Most guys have got 10 runs and get out, but if they get their eye in, they are capable of scoring," Chigumbura said.
Zimbabwe hasn't given up hope, and is trying to emulate the big upset win which Ireland produced against England when it chased down a strong 328-run target with Kevin O'Brien scoring the fastest World Cup century off 50 balls.
To even be competitive, Zimbabwe will have to rely heavily on veteran left-arm spinner Ray Price to cause trouble for Sri Lanka. He is expected to open the bowling again as he has in the last three matches.
But that could play into the hands of a Sri Lankan batting lineup featuring the likes of Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera, all highly experienced against spin in all conditions.
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