Friday 27 July 2012

WhatThe third ODI of the five-match seriesbetween India and Sri LankaWhenJuly 28, 2012. The game begins at 14:30IST.WhereR. Premadasa Stadium, Khettarama,Colombo. Statistically, this is the bestof the three grounds used in theseries, for the hosts. Sri Lanka have awin percentage of 66.66 (excluding noresult games) in Colombo, which dipsto 60 and 50 percent at Hambantotaand Pallekele International CricketStadium respectively. Also, Sri Lankawon both their recent ODI gamesagainst Pakistan played here; anaverage score of 245 was posted in thefirst innings.The TeamsIndia need to begin well, both on thebowling and batting fronts. Thevisitors have lost their opening wicketfor 7 and 31 runs respectively in theprevious two games. Where GautamGambhir failed in the first ODI,Virender Sehwag disappointed aftergetting off to a brisk start in thesecond. Rohit Sharma too needs todeliver if he wants to silence thegrowing clamour to replace him withManoj Tiwary. Besides that, with theSri Lankan openers having gone afterthe Indian new-ball bowlers in thesecond ODI, it may not be a bad idea toopen the bowling with R Ashwin justto throw a new challenge to theopposition.Sri Lanka put in a near flawlessperformance in the second ODI. Theirpace attack, led by Thisara Perera andAngelo Mathews, was able to bowl outthe Indians cheaply while theiropeners made short work of the targetwith a 119-run opening stand. IsuruUdana’s 42 runs from six overs couldbe considered the sole blemish, buteven that could be put down to nervessince it was the left-arm paceman’sfirst ODI. Barring the temptation toreplace Udana with Nuwan Pradeep,who incidentally is yet to play an ODIgame, the hosts are likely to play anunchanged side at Colombo.Key PlayersVirat Kohli seems to be the key toIndia’s fortunes. Two contrastingscores by him in the first two ODIs(106, 1) have arguably been thedifference for India. Also, with Gambhirand Sehwag struggling to stringtogether an opening stand, there isadded pressure on Kohli to perform atNo. 3.Although Angelo Mathews has hadjust one innings with the bat, the all-rounder is making his presence felt forthe hosts in this series as a bowler.Mathews’ economy-rate of 4.23 is thebest for any bowler on either teamwho has bowled a minimum of 10overs in this series so far.TriviaIndia – Should the visitors play anunchanged side from the second game,Rohit Sharma’s ODI batting average of17.33 in 2012 will be the lowest of allthe batsmen in the top six. Sharma hasonly one half-century score (68)against Pakistan in Dhaka to show forhis nine innings in 2012.Sri Lanka – Lasith Malinga and ThisaraPerera, with 38 and 28 wicketsrespectively, are the top two ODIwicket-takers for 2012. Malinga hascollected 38 scalps in 25 matches whilePerera’s 28 have come in just 16games. Australia’s Clint McKay, with 27victims from 17 matches, is third onthe list.Venue StatsIndia – played – 39, won – 17, lost – 18,tied – 0, no result – 4Sri Lanka – played – 88, won – 54, lost– 27, tied – 0, no result – 7Highest total in an innings: India 363/5in 50.0 overs v Sri Lanka – February 3,2009Lowest total in an innings:Netherlands 86 in 29.3 overs v SriLanka – September 16, 2002Best individual score in an innings:Gautam Gambhir (India) – 150 v SriLanka – February 5, 2009Best bowling figures in an innings:Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka) –6.0-0-20-6 v India – September 12,2009Head-to-headMatches Played Ind won SL won TiedOverall 136 72 52 1In Sri Lanka 53 20 27 0At R. Premadasa Stadium 29 11 15 0Form guide in ODIs (most recent listedfirst)India: Lost, Won, Won, Lost, Won (2losses, 3 wins)Sri Lanka: Won, Lost, Won, Won, NR (3wins, 1 loss)The SquadsIndia: MS Dhoni (c & wk), Virat Kohli,Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina,Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, RAshwin, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan,Umesh Yadav, Ashok Dinda, IrfanPathan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwaryand Rahul SharmaSri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (capt),Angelo Mathews (vice-capt),Tillakaratne Dilshan, KumarSangakkara, Upul Tharanga, DineshChandimal (wk), Thisara Perera, LahiruThirimanne, Lasith Malinga, ChamaraKapugedera, Rangana Herath,Sachithra Senanayake, Jeevan Mendis,Isuru Udana and Nuwan PradeepAll stats are as on July 27, 2012\


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