By IANS
Canberra : The Indian team, upbeat after a stunning win over Australia Sunday, will be looking to cash in on the psychological advantage when they face Sri Lanka at the Manuka Oval in the fifth One-Day International here Tuesday.
The match is of prime importance for Sri Lanka, as they are yet to register a win in the Commonwealth Bank series. Their first match against India was washed out and they lost their next match to Australia.
Sri Lanka will be under pressure because they are in a must-win situation if they want to stay alive in the tournament.
The good news for India is that even in the last match against Sri Lanka, their batting looked solid against Chaminda Vaas and co.
Only the young Ishara Amerasinghe kept the Indians in check with accurate bowling when his seniors failed to build pressure.
India’s Harbhajan Singh was glad about the way batsmen handled Muttiah Muralidharan. “The way we played Murali was very good. He got two early wickets but he gave away 50-odd runs,” the Indian spinner said here Monday.
With India’s win at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Harbhajan felt that the team has more belief and the hunger is increasing each day.
“We have young guys who are all raring to go. We played very well yesterday and we will stick to the same sort of the rhythm in the next game and try to win every game from here onwards.
“Every game is different. It doesn’t matter what Sri Lanka did in the last game. It’s going to be a good challenge for both sides and we’ll put up our best show,” he said.
For Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene, the problem is his team’s batting. Apart from Kumar Sangakkara, none of the batsmen have performed well. “Our batting is a bit (matter) of concern. You can have those days, I suppose, just like what happened to the Aussies yesterday.”
The pitch will aid stroke play and it is expected that both teams will go in with depth in batting. It is highly unlikely that India will make changes in their winning combination but Sri Lanka may bring in Farveez Maharoof for an indisposed Tillakaratne Dilshan.
The match is also a special occasion for the fans here, given that international cricket is returning to Canberra after a 16-year hiatus. However, visiting teams have stopped over for the traditional contests against the Prime Minister’s XI, just like India did before the Perth Test this season.
Teams
India (likely): Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma
Sri Lanka (likely): Upul Tharanga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Chamara Kapugedera, Chamara Silva, Farveez Maharoof, Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Ishara Amerasinghe and Muttiah Muralitharan
Umpires: Tony Hill (New Zealand) and Bruce Oxenford (Australia)
TV umpire: Peter Parker (Australia)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand)