India look to hit back after Sri Lanka faces dilemma

Overview

Sri Lanka v India
R. Premadasa Stadium
4th T20I
Monday 12 March; 17:00 local time, 13:30 GMT

With all three teams having won one and lost one in the Nidahas Trophy Twenty20 International tri-series, Sri Lanka and India face off on Monday with the aim of strengthening their positions and pushing for a spot in the final.

The hosts will have to make do without their captain Dinesh Chandimal, who has been suspended for two matches for a slow over-rate during their previous fixture against Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka and India had met in the opening game of the series and Sri Lanka had little trouble chasing down India’s 174 then, helped along by Kusal Perera’s whirlwind 66. But things have changed since then. India defeated Bangladesh by six wickets first, and Sri Lanka lost to the same opponents by five wickets in the last game of the tournament courtesy a match-winning half-century by Mushfiqur Rahim.

Shikhar Dhawan has registered consecutive half-centuries in the tri-series

India were clinical against Bangladesh. Shikhar Dhawan carried on from his 90 off 49 balls against Sri Lanka to score his second half-century of the series – a fluent 55 off just 43 balls. Dhawan, of course, came into the picture after the bowlers – in particular Vijay Shankar, who picked up 2/32, and Jaydev Unadkat (3/38) – had done a great job, a component that was missing in the first game.

Rohit Sharma, who has scores of 0 and 17 so far in the series, must want to make his presence felt and so will Rishabh Pant, who hasn’t quite clicked so far. Those two glitches aside, India look a well-rounded unit going into this game but need to be wary of Kusal Perera, who took them to the cleaners in their previous meeting, and the other big hitters in the Sri Lankan line-up, Kusal Mendis, Upul Tharanga and Thisara Perera among them.

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, will be feeling disappointed after having failed to defend an imposing total of 214/6 against Bangladesh. The batsmen came good, with Perera (74) registering his second consecutive half-century of the series and Mendis helping him with a handy knock of 54. However, their bowling should be a cause for concern as this was the second game in a row that the bowlers had gone for runs.

Kusal Perera has scored 140 runs in two innings so far in the series

Players to watch
Shikhar Dhawan (India): With two consecutive half-centuries to his name, Dhawan is the man in form for India, having carried forward his touch from the limited-overs series in South Africa. Dhawan has batted for long durations in both Indian innings so far, tallying 145 runs from two games. India will want Rohit Sharma to start scoring big, but Dhawan has more than made up for his captain’s lack of runs so far.

Kusal Perera (Sri Lanka):  Perera has done for Sri Lanka what Dhawan has for India, if not better. The second-highest run scorer in the series, Perera has set the tone for the Sri Lankan batting in both games, accumulating 140 runs, and is an intimidating presence at No.3.

Rohit Sharma’s form has been a cause for concern

Conditions: Light showers are expected in Colombo on Monday, and that could mean a stop-start game. The expected precipitation is 50 per cent and the humidity could be as high as 85 per cent, though the temperature should be in the mid-20s. The pitch at R. Premadasa Stadium has been good for batting, as the scores in the series suggest, and another high-scoring affair cannot be ruled out.

Squads
Sri Lanka: Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Suranga Lakmal, Isuru Udana, Akila Dananjaya, Amila Aponso, Nuwan Pradeep, Dushmantha Chameera, Dananjaya de Silva

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Rishabh Pant (wk), Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammed Siraj