Johannesburg, Sept. 26: All of a sudden, Sri Lanka have a foot in the exit door. Their win in the tournament opener over hosts South Africa at the SuperSport Park in Centurion created something of a sensation here, but such are the vagaries of the game that Friday’s setback against England at the Wanderers and another sloppy performance against New Zealand on Sunday could well send them home.

The 2009 Champions Trophy has virtually seen the form book ripped up and thrown away. Other than Sri Lanka’s up and down performance, the West Indies almost put it past Pakistan last Wednesday and went close against Australia on Saturday as well, at least in the initial part of the match.

Such being the case, the Kiwis will be quietly fancying themselves though the injury to Jacob Oram threatens to disrupt the team’s balance severely. James Franklin has been called in as replacement and may well play after the dispirited showing against South Africa at Centurion on Thursday.

New Zealand also know they have been on the back foot against the Lankans for close to a month and a half now, since their tour of the island. At the same time they also have some seriously destructive batsmen for whom the fast Wanderers track will come as a blessing after the spongy Centurion pitch.

By the same token, Sri Lanka know they will now have to work extra hard to go through to the next stage. They looked a balanced side in the tournament opener where the surface was the kind they are used to at home. At the Wanderers, they looked out of sorts and Kumar Sangakkara’s big headache must be Muttiah Muralitharan’s lack of consistency.