David Leggat: Sri Lanka's Malinga factor shifts the balance

The return of Lasith Malinga will have all opposing batsmen on edge, but those who face him later in the Cup, when he has his game in full swing, will have more to worry about. Photo / AP

New Zealand will know what to expect if, as expected, Lasith Malinga marks out his runup against them in the World Cup opener on Saturday.

The problem, as it has been for the past 10 years for the best batsmen around the globe, is what to do when the ball reaches them.

A conversation with former New Zealand wicketkeeper Tony Blain came to mind when pondering the Malinga threat.

Returning from a series in Australia in the 1990s, at a point when Shane Warne's flipper was causing serious damage to opposing batsmen - and producing squeals of "Yeees, got 'eem, the flipper again!" from excited Australian reporters - the question was raised about how to pick the deceptive delivery from the champion legspinner.

Ah, said the quirky, entertaining Blain - a man with a host of interesting theories on the game - the problem was not how to pick what the ball would do in flight; it was how the batsman coped with it when it reached him. So it is with Malinga, one of the most unusual and effective bowlers to have graced the game.

Releasing the ball roughly in line with the umpire's chest, and at sharp pace, it is devilishly hard to pick up - even after years of perusing film of his action. Throw in his clever slower ball and the job gets even tougher.

His numbers tell part of the story: 177 ODIs, for 271 wickets at 27.1. Against New Zealand, it's 29 wickets in 21 games at 23.8 apiece.

Sure, Malinga, with his distinctive yellow-tinted mop of hair and jewellery in ears and eyebrows, has been collared at times.

But it's in the dying overs, as batsmen are looking for victory, trying to manufacture runs at a time when they might prefer to focus on survival, that the threat is writ large.

The list of batsmen fooled by fast in-ducking yorkers or half-paced, dipping full tosses from his odd trajectory is long and illustrious. There's no shame in having been Malinga'd.

One point in New Zealand's favour: the 30-year-old from Galle is seriously underdone after being sidelined by an ankle injury, and subsequent surgery, since the end of August.

It may be that the teams who have more to worry about are the likes of England (March 1) and Australia (March 18), who will face Sri Lanka and Malinga later in the Cup, when he's got his game in full swing.

Still, there's no doubt the balance between the teams - after New Zealand's convincing recent 4-2 series win - will have shifted on the back of Malinga's return.