India take on Sri Lanka in the last game of the Asia Cup before the same two sides will play the finals of the tournament as well. Both the sides have won two games each, and against the same oppositions, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Similarly, both had beaten Bangladesh with a bonus point and that means that the side winning this last league game could go into the final with some brownie points and a lot of confidence.
Talking of confidence, India will be playing this game with a lot of confidence, having not only beaten their arch-rivals Pakistan, but also after chasing down the highest total under lights. That is the issue with the ground here at Dambulla, as it becomes very difficult batting second and scoring 268 to win the game is a phenomenon that does not happen ddaily!
However, the Indians will continue to worry about their pace attack, which has shown penchant to leak runs. This should make it difficult for the side in this game, as the pair of Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga have an uncanny habit of going after the pace bowlers at their will. Dilshan is in particularly good touch and will look to extend the golden run and get to another good one.
This will be an excellent opportunity for the rest of the Sri Lankan batting who hasn’t had a lot of practice in this tournament so far. Instead of changing things around, the Sri Lankan side could look at affording more opportunities to the same eleven to bat, and without too much pressure either.
For India, the batting has done reasonably well so far but Virender Sehwag’s injury will be a worry. If Sehwag is rested for the game, Saurabh Tiwary will be drafted in and it will be exciting to see how he goes about his business. It will also do well for Rohit Sharma if he can get some runs under his belt after failing four successive times after he had hit those two centuries in Sri Lanka.
All in all, the sides will look to experiment a little, but will not want to give up on their advantage before the final of the tournament.
It is interesting news from the bookies’ counter with both, India and Sri Lanka going into the game at 5/6 (Ladbrokes) to win the game! It isn’t too difficult to see the confusion, but my sense is that the side winning the toss could have a huge advantage going into this one. so wait till the toss, and place your bets after that!