Preview: Commonwealth Bank Series,
5th Match: India v Sri Lanka at Adelaide, Feb 14, 2012
The next match of the Commonwealth Bank series will be played on February 14th. We shall never know if the authorities deliberately scheduled a match between India and Sri Lanka on the Valentine's Day, for these two teams have met no less than a pair of lovebirds would have in the past few years, in the ODI format.
The fact that youngsters like
Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina have played majority of their ODIs against
the Emerald Island points towards that fact. Nevertheless, the
encounters have never had a feeling of blase with the players competing
at their very best. That sense of sportsmanship and desire to win will
be evident in the next match as both teams will be desperate for a win.
India, on a winning roll, will move to the top of the table if they get
the better of the Lankans while the latter will look to get off the mark
in this series.
India
India seemed to carry its wretched form from the Test series into the limited overs format initially. But the world champions have bounced back and won a couple of games on the trot, though neither of them was as convincing as they would have liked it to be. The bowling has been good in patches with Vinay Kumar standing out with his ability to strike early. As far as the spinners are concerned, Ashwin was brilliant against the Lankans in the previous game and was pale in the two games against Australia.
The trump card, as was in the Tests, is Zaheer Khan, who has once again given reasons to believe that he is one of the most dangerous bowlers of his generation. Against a Lankan batting order which almost chased down Australia's total the other day, they need to be on target for the islanders will jump on every opportunity presented to them. The batting looks better after opener Gautam Gambhir turned out a MOM winning show in the previous match.
MS Dhoni, Raina and Rohit Sharma look to be in good nick, although the shot selection has left much to be desired. If they can hold their head at crucial moments, India can be unbeatable in this format. This young Indian side has probably been one of the best fielding units that has ever represented the nation and Dhoni will want another lion-hearted show in the field from them. Overall, they look favorites to register a third consecutive win.
Sri Lanka
The Lankans are at the bottom of the points table in this tri-series. But anyone who was hooked to their match against Australia on Friday will agree that they are a unit capable of defeating the best. Their bowlers were able to restrict Australia to a modest total, something the Indians have failed to achieve in this series. The pick of the bowlers has been off spinner Sachitra Senanayake, who impressed on a pitch which favored the fast bowlers.
The other bowlers too have performed their roles to perfection and it was indeed an all round effort as the five front line bowlers picked up a couple of wickets each to bowl out the Aussies within the quota of 50 overs. The bone of contention has however been their batting. Kumar Sangakkara and skipper Mahela Jayawardene, the stalwarts in a largely brittle lineup, have looked scratchy and their contributing in a big way will be of prime importance to Sri Lanka's fortunes.
Dilshan looks a lot more relaxed after relinquishing his captaincy and will look to convert his starts into big hundreds, something his side needs. Dinesh Chandimal has already been identified as a future great and he needs to continue his good form batting at number 4. Overall, if the batting joins the party, they might well go on to crush India.
Quotable Quotes by M S Dhoni
Quotable Quotes by Kumar Sangakkara
India has been rotating it's openers in every match and it is Sehwag's turn to sit out. Despite the fact that the opening pair did considerably well, Sehwag is likely to make way for Sachin. Another interesting selection will be that of Irfan Pathan. It is unlikely that Ravindra Jadeja might be rested to make way for Pathan on a spin friendly track in Adelaide.
Team News Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka might consider playing Rangana Herath as he will strengthen the side on a spinner friendly track in Adelaide.
Match scheduled to begin at 13:50 local time (03:20 GMT)
India squad MS Dhoni, R Ashwin, G Gambhir, RA Jadeja, Z Khan, V Kohli, P Kumar, PA Patel†, IK Pathan, SK Raina, V Sehwag, R Sharma, RG Sharma, SR Tendulkar, MK Tiwary, R Vinay Kumar, U Yadav
Sri Lanka squad DPMD Jayawardene, AD Mathews, LD Chandimal, TM Dilshan, HMRKB Herath, KMDN Kulasekara, MF Maharoof, SL Malinga, NLTC Perera, KTGD Prasad, KC Sangakkara , SMSM Senanayake, WU Tharanga, HDRL Thirimanne, UWMBCA Welegedara.
written by Siddharth Prabhakar
The next match of the Commonwealth Bank series will be played on February 14th. We shall never know if the authorities deliberately scheduled a match between India and Sri Lanka on the Valentine's Day, for these two teams have met no less than a pair of lovebirds would have in the past few years, in the ODI format.
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| Sri Lanka v India, 5th ODI |
India
India seemed to carry its wretched form from the Test series into the limited overs format initially. But the world champions have bounced back and won a couple of games on the trot, though neither of them was as convincing as they would have liked it to be. The bowling has been good in patches with Vinay Kumar standing out with his ability to strike early. As far as the spinners are concerned, Ashwin was brilliant against the Lankans in the previous game and was pale in the two games against Australia.
The trump card, as was in the Tests, is Zaheer Khan, who has once again given reasons to believe that he is one of the most dangerous bowlers of his generation. Against a Lankan batting order which almost chased down Australia's total the other day, they need to be on target for the islanders will jump on every opportunity presented to them. The batting looks better after opener Gautam Gambhir turned out a MOM winning show in the previous match.
MS Dhoni, Raina and Rohit Sharma look to be in good nick, although the shot selection has left much to be desired. If they can hold their head at crucial moments, India can be unbeatable in this format. This young Indian side has probably been one of the best fielding units that has ever represented the nation and Dhoni will want another lion-hearted show in the field from them. Overall, they look favorites to register a third consecutive win.
Sri Lanka
The Lankans are at the bottom of the points table in this tri-series. But anyone who was hooked to their match against Australia on Friday will agree that they are a unit capable of defeating the best. Their bowlers were able to restrict Australia to a modest total, something the Indians have failed to achieve in this series. The pick of the bowlers has been off spinner Sachitra Senanayake, who impressed on a pitch which favored the fast bowlers.
The other bowlers too have performed their roles to perfection and it was indeed an all round effort as the five front line bowlers picked up a couple of wickets each to bowl out the Aussies within the quota of 50 overs. The bone of contention has however been their batting. Kumar Sangakkara and skipper Mahela Jayawardene, the stalwarts in a largely brittle lineup, have looked scratchy and their contributing in a big way will be of prime importance to Sri Lanka's fortunes.
Dilshan looks a lot more relaxed after relinquishing his captaincy and will look to convert his starts into big hundreds, something his side needs. Dinesh Chandimal has already been identified as a future great and he needs to continue his good form batting at number 4. Overall, if the batting joins the party, they might well go on to crush India.
Quotable Quotes by M S Dhoni
'Our batsmen played a few shots that we shouldn't have played. If you get those shots it looks good, but if they don't pay off then it's a stupid shot'
Quotable Quotes by Kumar Sangakkara
'Our strength has always been playing India away from India. India are always strong in India, with the smaller grounds and conditions they are used to. But away from home, we have always done very well against them'Team News India
India has been rotating it's openers in every match and it is Sehwag's turn to sit out. Despite the fact that the opening pair did considerably well, Sehwag is likely to make way for Sachin. Another interesting selection will be that of Irfan Pathan. It is unlikely that Ravindra Jadeja might be rested to make way for Pathan on a spin friendly track in Adelaide.
Team News Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka might consider playing Rangana Herath as he will strengthen the side on a spinner friendly track in Adelaide.
Match scheduled to begin at 13:50 local time (03:20 GMT)
India squad MS Dhoni, R Ashwin, G Gambhir, RA Jadeja, Z Khan, V Kohli, P Kumar, PA Patel†, IK Pathan, SK Raina, V Sehwag, R Sharma, RG Sharma, SR Tendulkar, MK Tiwary, R Vinay Kumar, U Yadav
Sri Lanka squad DPMD Jayawardene, AD Mathews, LD Chandimal, TM Dilshan, HMRKB Herath, KMDN Kulasekara, MF Maharoof, SL Malinga, NLTC Perera, KTGD Prasad, KC Sangakkara , SMSM Senanayake, WU Tharanga, HDRL Thirimanne, UWMBCA Welegedara.
written by Siddharth Prabhakar
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