TEAMS LOOK FOR STRONG COMEBACK IN VIRTUAL SEMI-FINAL

With the hosts already into the final courtesy a comfortable win on Sunday, India and New Zealand lock horns for the final spot in the last league game at Dambulla.

India have had a see-saw tournament so far, having started the tournament poorly, followed by a comprehensive win and then another miserable show. The last game was a bad day for them with plenty of tough decisions going against the batsmen. But, in general, in this series, the batting has been under the spotlight as apart from Sehwag, no one has really played a good knock. Yuvraj played a gritty knock in the previous game and would have scored more but for the lack of partners. The bowlers have, in general, done well throughout the series, be it the seamers or the spinners and changes, if any, might occur for batting. Kohli and Ashwin might be drafted in for Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, the second change purely because Ashwin is a much better all-rounder than Jadeja.

The Black Caps started the tri-series on a bang, crushing India by a whopping 200 runs. However, after that, they have not been able to reproduce that form with either bat or ball. Like their opponents, their batting has loads of problems with the added burden of inexperience. Taylor and Styris will be under pressure to perform again and Guptill’s poor form combined with his injury are not making things any easy. The bowling looks in good shape, especially looking forward for the World Cup next year. The only change which might occur for this game is the return of Guptill, if fit, in the place of Ingram.

Rain could prove a crucial factor as even a wash-out would take the Kiwis to the final as they are ahead on points of the Indians, though, there is a reserve day on Thursday. India start as strong favourites purely because of their experience in the side and also in their habit of bouncing back strongly after defeats, but should it rain and the match get curtailed, the Kiwis stand a good chance as well.