Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Ind vs SL: Zaheer Khan strikes early to remove Tharanga

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Ind vs SL: Zaheer Khan strikes early to remove Tharanga
NEW DELHI: Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and decided to bat against India in the second one-day international of the tri-series at the WACA in Perth on Wednesday.

 

Plagued by poor batting form for long, a jittery India will certainly try to lift the standard of their game against Sri Lanka as they strive to bring their ODI tri-series campaign back on track.

Virender Sehwag, who had been rested from the first game in order to play Rohit Sharma, returned to the final XI.

Sehwag replaced Gautam Gambhir who has been rested for the second ODI.

Veteran pacer Zaheer Khan, who missed out the opening match like Sehwag, also made his way back into the team as he replaced injured Rahul Sharma.

India let Australia off the hook in the opening match in Melbourne and missing out on an opportunity in Wednesday's crucial clash would make the job very tough for them.

In Australia, the two teams have clashed five times and India have an advantage of 2-1 over their southern neighbours, with two matches finishing with no result.

India still feel the pain of their last visit to WACA last month when they lost the third Test to Australia in two and a half days by an innings margin.

It's a record at this venue though isn't too bad. It has won three games and lost five matches since 1980 when it first played New Zealand in a triangular and won by five runs.

The fast outfield and less-than a steeping bounce enables big scores to be managed at this ground.

Five wins each in the last 10 ODIs between the two sides might suggest an even battle between two sub-continental teams but ever so quietly, the young brigade has begun to make headlines for Sri Lanka in the last few months.

The trio of Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne and Thisara Perera are all 22-year-olds but are already seen as a very dangerous quotient in Sri Lanka's resurgence who chased down two near 300-plus scores against South Africa last month.

Openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga are a force to reckon with in ODI cricket. Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, as ever, are the backbone of Sri Lankan batting. Then there is irrepressible Lasith Malinga, arguably the best one-day bowler in the world.

Despite its failures against Australia this summer, the batting could expect to come good against the lesser firepower of Sri Lankan bowling.

Teams:

Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Angelo Matthews, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Lasith Malinga, Dinesh Chandimal, Thisara Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Upul Tharanga, Dhammika Prasad and Nuwan Kulasekara.

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan.
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