Familiar foes lock horns once again

Bruised Indians after a humiliating loss against the Kiwis will once again gear up to collide with Sri Lanka in the third ODI of tri-series at Dambulla.

The Indians faced a hefty defeat in the first ODI and MS Dhoni will be crest-fallen with the batting performance in the swinging conditions. The batsmen completely looked clueless while facing the tall and lanky New Zealand fast bowlers under the lights and surrendered against them without putting up any fight. They will have to get rid of that chunk in their armoury as soon as possible, otherwise the home side will also hit them in the same place where it hurt them the most. They need to take a leaf out of the book of their opposition for this match, Sri Lanka, as they batted sensibly under the lights against the same attack, though the track was flat and the target was pretty paltry. The Indian fast bowling department spearheaded by Ashish Nehra did exceptionally well up front with good support from Praveen Kumar and looked in imperious touch but the back up bowling including the spinners were dismal. Yuvraj Singh has been diagnosed with dengue fever and is a doubtful starter and if does not recover then Virat Kohli could replace him. The Men in Blue have to get their act together and improve in every facet of the game, if they wish to give the hosts a run for their money.

The Emerald Isles nation lured by the bonus point almost snatched a defeat from the jaws of victory as in one stage they were cruising towards win in the second ODI against New Zealand. The batsmen excelled under the lights and batted beautifully but suffered a mini-collapse in the process. The bowlers put up a splendid performance as they not only pegged the Kiwis with regular wickets but also kept the run flow in check. Lasith Malinga and Angelo Mathews were outstanding and the spinners also did a commendable job. Suraj Randiv, who missed out might get a look in as he troubled the Indians in the third Test and if the team management decides to do so then Rangana Haerath might be the unlucky one to get the axe. The Islanders always have been a tough nut to crack on their home soil but they can’t take the visitors lightly as they will be wounded and surely will come hard on them.

In the past one year, India have played 58 ODIs out of which 24 matches have been against Sri Lanka. So, both the teams are well aware of each others strengths and weaknesses. A crunch match is in for a store and it is going to be an even contest between the two equally balanced sides.