Ind vs SL: Sri Lanka off to a fiery start against India at the Gabba

NEW DELHI: Openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene brought up the Sri Lankan fifty in the eighth over against India in the 8th ODI of the tri-series at the Gabba in Brisbane on Tuesday.

Scorecard/Points Table 

The start came after Jayawardene won the toss and chose to bat.

For India, Virender Sehwag, Parthiv Patel and R Ashwin come in place of Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni and Zaheer Khan. Sri Lanka are unchanged from the last match.

The pitch looks a good batting track but it would be difficult to chase under lights as the bowlers will get some movement under lights.

Sehwag, who sat out the last two games due to back spasms, suddenly finds himself back in the hot seat as MS Dhoni has been handed a one-match suspension.

Despite having won their first game against the Lankans and drawing level in their next match, India's confidence would have taken a heavy beating following their 110-run defeat to Australia.

Also, the fact that Sri Lanka took the 'tied match' in their stride and went on to shock Australia in their next game makes them dangerous opponents. The emphatic manner of the win over Australia would not have gone unnoticed in the Indian camp.

A win for Sri Lanka on Tuesday will put them on par with India on 10 points, that too with one less game. Besides, they also boast of a much better run-rate. As of now Australia are sitting pretty with 14 points from 5 matches, India have 10 from 5 while Sri Lanka have 7 points from 4 matches.

Notwithstanding the conditions at the Gabba, India will need to be at their best to stay alive in the competition.

Sri Lanka go into the match following a three-day break, and they are fresh and raring to go. Bowlers Thisara Perera, Farvez Maharoof and Angelo Matthews, who made light work of the Australian batting, will be looking to do an encore in better bowling conditions.

To add to India's problems, the weatherman has predicted some rain on Tuesday. How much of an effect it will have on the game remains to be seen.

Teams:

India: Virender Sehwag (Capt.), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Parthiv Patel, Irfan Pathan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav.

Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (Capt.), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thiramanne, Angelo Matthews, Thisara Perera, Farveez Maharoof, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Rangana Herath.