Winning scores for the India-New Zealand-Sri Lanka Tri-series

Let’s take a look at how the Dambulla cricket ground in Sri Lanka has shaped up team performances over the years.

India was comprehensively beaten in the first ODI of the India-New Zealand-Sri Lanka tri-series. The batsmen deserve a lot of the blame after being skittled out for 88, one run short of Styris’ individual score and 7 short of Taylor’s. The bowlers didn’t come through either, and chasing 289 runs at Dambulla was always going to be a stiff task. Here’s a look at past performances at Dambulla, which gives us an indication of what to expect for the rest of the tri-series since all the matches will be played on this ground.

Of the 37 matches played at this venue, the side batting first has won 18 times while the side chasing has won 19, so there isn’t a marked advantage one way or the other. The average runs per over on this ground is 4.40, indicating an average score of 220 runs per 50 overs. The graph below shows the distribution of 1st innings scores at Dambulla and how those scores translate into wins or losses.

300 has been surpassed just twice - Pakistan got 385 and Sri Lanka reached 312 - both against Bangladesh. A competitive score seems to be in the 200-250 range. However, the scoring rate has increased over the past year, which means the par score today is more towards the higher side in the 200-250 bracket.

Further evidence of the pitch not being the most batting-friendly is that there have only been five centuries scored at this ground. Afridi makes the list twice, Jayasuriya and Jayawardene got centuries in 2009 while Rahul Dravid is the only Indian on the list and is the only one to have scored a ton at Dambulla pre-2009.

While the pitch has eased for batting and scoring rates have increased, Dambulla still remains one of the more bowler-friendly ODI pitches today. It’s hard to get settled in and it will be important for batsmen who get a start to kick on and play a long innings, like Taylor and Styris did in the first ODI. Middle order batting could be the key in this series, and it’s an area where all three teams look somewhat shaky. Expect a close series with the batsmen really having to apply themselves on a tricky wicket.