 Sri Lanka will be keen to register their first win in the Commonwealth Bank Series
as they clash with India on Tuesday. Sri Lanka, with two defeats, would not like
to fall too far behind in the tournament while India, fresh from their
win against Australia on the tour, would be eyeing going top of the points table.
India looked the team we have only seen glimpses of on the current tour. Captain
MS Dhoni's cool-headedness took his side to victory with 13 runs needed off
the final over. The batting clicked as a whole unit and more of similar action
will be expected against Sri Lanka. Sachin Tendulkar, rested for Sunday's
match, may sit out yet again.
Click for Live Score Card of India Vs Sri Lanka
Gautam Gambhir holds the key while Virender Sehwag will need to do better
than throw away his wicket after getting a start. Virat Kohli will look
to repeat his heroics from the match against Sri Lanka. The bowlers individually
have not been anything stellar, but have done enough collectively to keep the
opposition in check.
Sri Lanka are without points yet, though both their defeats ended in close results.
They have only themselves to blame for lacking the killer instinct on both occasions.
After a disciplined start, their bowling allowed Australia to score 231. In reply,
three wickets in the space of ten runs effectively sucked the life out of their
chase.
While it is heartening to see Angelo Mathews' fighting effort all the way till
the end, the batting unit has to click together to cause any real trouble to the
opposition. They have not had a reasonable opening stand in a while and would
want to fix that to make an a solid start as they search for a win.
The day/night encounter will be played at Adelaide Oval and may witness the
odd rain interruption. India will go top of the points table if they win while Sri Lanka will stay in third place irrespective of the result.
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