Sri Lanka face India in battle of survival

India and Sri Lanka are set to meet each other in the fifth ODI of the Tri-series in Dambulla. It is a must-win game for Sri Lanka. They win, they go through and if they lose they are out of the finals reckoning. India are not in such a panic situation, even if they lose, they will have a chance to beat New Zealand in the last league game and make their way in to the finals.

The Sri Lankan team has been surrounded by quite some unwanted stuff in the last few days. After that one match ban to Suraj Randiv over the No Ball controversy, this time it was the skipper Kumar Sangakkara itself who was called for by the Referee after being involved in a tussle with Kiwi all-rounder Nathan McCullum. Though, the Lankan captain was found not guilty and was cleared off offense. Keeping all of that behind, the home side would definitely want to concentrate on this all important game and see themselves through.

The inclusion of Mendis and Herath in the bowling department against the Kiwis wasn’t tested as the match got washed out on both the days. The selection of Silva in place of Samaraweera came off well as the former looked in fine touch in whatever time he got in the middle, before the rain intervened. Including Randiv back in the side would be a tricky call for the team management as the Indians would definitely go hard at him.

India, after losing comprehensively in the first game, have come back pretty strongly as they managed to beat the home side in the first leg encounter. They look a touch settled now but still their batting needs to prove a point with Kohli, Sharma out of touch in the middle-order. Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra should once again be the trump-cards for India in the bowling department.

There is very little to choose from between the two sides at the moment, and the team that holds its nerves better on the field will win the game. Another important factor will of course be the rain but lets hope it stays away from Dambulla and we get a good game of Cricket.