Preview: India vs Sri Lanka - Tri-Series 2013

What

Match 3 – India vs Sri Lanka – of the Tri-nation ODI tournament, also featuring hosts West Indies.

When

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Where

Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica

The Teams

India

Riding high on their Champions Trophy triumph in England, the Indians flattered to deceive in their opening game of this tri-series. Barring Rohit Sharma (60) and Suresh Raina (44), the batting misfired. The bowlers did force the West Indies No.11 batsman at the crease while defending a modest total, but failed to deal the vital blow. Going into their second match of the tournament, India will experience a further setback with the absence of captain MS Dhoni. The Sri Lankans will surely look to exploit this situation as the Indians take the field without their astute skipper and master finisher. (Also READ: MS Dhoni Ruled Out, Virat Kohli Named Captain of Tri-Series)

Sri Lanka

Like India, the Sri Lankan team too fell victim to the sluggish Sabina Park wicket and the West Indian bowlers in their first match of the series. While Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews did score a fifty each, Chris Gayle and Johnson Charles have shown in the first two matches that the key to posting a good score is one batsman dropping anchor for most of the innings.

Key Players

India

Besides their biggest nemesis, Virat Kohli, Sri Lanka will be wary of Rohit and Raina, given their current form. The two, on the other hand, will be hoping to convert their starts into big scores and hold the innings together.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka will require the sagacity of either Jayawardene or Kumar Sangakkara, if not both, at the crease for the longest possible time as they take on an attack that has a good mix of pace and spin bowling to suit the conditions on offer.

Form guide

India LWWWW (Most recent first, last five completed matches)

Sri Lanka LLWWL

Pitch and conditions

The conditions at Sabina Park have meant batsmen have struggled for fluency in the first half of the match and they are likely to stay the same. It is a slow pitch with some lateral movement early on, but it eases out during the second half. Just like West Indies did both times, the team that wins the toss will prefer to field.

Stats and trivia

• India and Sri Lanka have played 41 ODIs against each other in the last five years - that is 15 more than the next most-prolific match-up of Bangladesh-Zimbabwe. Overall, the two teams have met each other 140 times in ODIs, also a record. Australia-West Indies have played against each other 135 times.
• It's not a surprise then that three Sri Lankans and four Indians have scored more than 1000 runs in such contests in the last five years, the top-seven batting efforts against a particular team. Shane Watson, with 930 runs against England, is the eighth batsman in this list.
• The India and Sri Lanka bowlers haven't done quite as well as their batting counterparts. It's understandable since most of these matches are played on flat wickets. For wickets taken against a particular opposition in the last five years, three Sri Lanka bowlers are in the top 10 for doing it against India. Lasith Malinga is there, too, but the opposition in his case is Australia. Only one India bowler - Zaheer Khan v Sri Lanka - makes it to the list.

Squads

India: Virat Kohli (capt), R Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Suresh Raina, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Ambati Rayudu

Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (capt), Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Dilhara Lokuhettige, Shaminda Eranga, Rangana Herath, Mahela Jayawardene, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Kusal Perera, Kumar Sangakkara, Sachithra Senanayake, Upul Tharanga, Lahiru Thirimanne