 India play Sri Lanka in the last game of the league stage of the Asia Cup.
The game will be played at Dambulla under floodlights. Both the sides have already
qualified for the final of the tournament and this will work as a dress rehearsal
for the two sides before the all-important final.
The two sides had played recently in the tri-series in Zimbabwe as well and
the scoreline there was a 1-1. In the series between the two sides in India,
the Indians had won all their games, before the last one had been abandoned,
whereas the Indians have also won a Compaq Cup in Sri Lanka, by beating the
hosts.
Click for Live Score Card of Sri Lanka Vs India
Sri Lanka will be difficult to beat on their own turf. Especially, a pitch
where it is not very easy to bat in the second innings of the game. Having said
that, India has played two games, batted second and won both the matches, and
Sri Lanka have batted first in the two games they have played against
the same opposition and won both of them as well.
This will mean that the game will prove to be a humdinger as well. It would
also be interesting to see whether the Sri Lankans and Indians will go in with
any changes to their squad, especially in order to allow more players to get
a chance before the all-important World Cup.
India could look at trying out Ashok Dinda in place of Ashish Nehra,
who has almost looked listless so far, while also getting in R Ashwin in place
of Harbhajan Singh before the final. Sri Lanka handle the spinners much
better than the rest of the sides and that will mean that giving Bhajji a break
before the final will also allow the side an option before the all-important
game.
For Sri Lanka, the top-order will continue to remain the same, but the middle
order could be re-looked at. The side will also need to ensure that the players
who have been given a chance and are looking like they could turn the corner
are not dumped. But from the World Cup perspective, they will also need to ensure
that these players do feel the pinch or lose the momentum.
Dilshan and Tharanga will continue to remain the key at the top with Sangakkara
and Jayawardene adding all the fire-power with the batting.
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