Mahela Jayawardene during training in Mumbai on Thursday. (AFP)

Mumbai: Beneath all the thrills and frills of one-day cricket lies its unpredictability which makes one’s success fleeting, if not fragile. So, at a time when it seemed Sri Lanka under Tom Moody was coming of age, the script took an unexpected turn in Jaipur on Tuesday when Pakistan put their controversies behind and tamed Mahela Jayawardene & Co. spectacularly.

They face a must-win situation against New Zealand on Friday. Just a week ago, this is the place from where Sri Lanka began their journey in earnest, going into the championship proper with an all-win record and a nine-wicket thrashing of the West Indies.

Since then, the Brabourne tracks have been a subject of debate, and witnessed a couple of upsetting results: the West Indies scripting a Taylor-made victory over world champions Australia and South Africa losing to New Zealand.

Friday’s match, incidentally, will be played on the same track where Stephen Fleming inspired his team to a 87-run win against South Africa. Following an SoS from the concerned ICC, its pitches’ committee consultant Andy Atkinson took charge of the tracks from Wednesday, but both teams know it’s going to be another clash where slow bowlers will hold the key.

“We are aware of the crucial role Daniel Vettori and Jeetan Patel are going to play tomorrow, keeping in mind the fact that there are quite a few lefthanders in the Sri Lankan team,” declared Fleming. “We have already played here and have a pretty good idea about how the wickets will behave. So, under the circumstances, it’s quite natural that a lot depends on Murali,” admitted Jayawardene.

Moody dubbed their defeat to Pakistan as “one bad day in office”, while Jayawardene promised to make a positive statement of intent on Friday.

“We are mentally prepared for this must-win situation but we are not putting ourselves under undue pressure. We know we have the ingredients to come back and make it to the semi-finals,” Moody maintained.

His captain echoed the same feeling. “We are very much alive and kicking. We have got a good review of what had gone wrong against Pakistan. Tuesday’s mistakes have been properly addressed and the boys are very confident that things would fall into place tomorrow,” the 29-year-old Jayawardene observed.

Although another victory would ensure their passage to the last four stage, Fleming refused to rush things, and instead, stressed on a “game by game” approach.

In an interesting anecdote to the build-up to Friday’s match, all left-handed batsmen (Fleming, Brian Lara and Adam Gilchrist) have so far had a better success rate on the unpredictable Brabourne tracks. The New Zealand captain brushed it aside as “pure coincidence”.

The Sri Lankan captain was open to the idea that his team would cast special attention on Fleming. “Though we have not played against New Zealand in recent times, we are quite conscious that Fleming holds the key. Against South Africa, he adjusted himself to the conditions beautifully and it only proved how dangerous he could be against us as well,” he said.

No decision has yet been taken on Shane Bond and Scott Styris as both are slated to undergo fitness tests on Friday morning, but Fleming — who rued lack of partnerships against South Africa — was eyeing to set a target again .

Interestingly, taking a cue from the West Indies victory over Australia, Fleming said that “on these pitches, toss will be a factor since batting first seems to be an advantage. But you need to have your plans A, B, C in place to counter all possibilities. We’ve also noticed how the West Indies bowlers had managed to stifle the Australian batsmen and it can also be part of our strategy, if needed.”

TEAMS

New Zealand (from): Stephen Fleming, Nathan Astle, Lou Vincent, Scott Styris, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, Hamish Marshall, Kyle Mills, James Franklin, Peter Fulton, Daniel Vettori, Shane Bond, Jeetan Patel, Mark Gillespie.

Sri Lanka (from): Mahela Jayawarene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Maravan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Fervez Mahroof, Muttiah Muralidharan, Dilhara Fernando, Lasith Malinga, Malinga Bandara, Ruchira Perera, Chamara Kapugedera.

Umpires: Aleem Dar, Rudi Koertzen. TV: Mark Benson.

Match Referee: Mike Procter.

Match starts: 2.30 pm.