Following two back-to-back assault at the hands of Zimbabwe, India is now in a ‘do or die’ situation ahead of their last match against Sri Lanka in the preliminary stage. The match will take place at the Harare Sports Club, Harare in Zimbabwe on 5 June 2010.
Time
The match begins at 07:00 GMT (09:00 local). In India, the match kicks off at 12:30. Cricket fans in Bangladesh can watch the match from 01:00.
Live Score
Live updates of the match will be available in the following website address:
http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/scores/live.html
India’s poor performance in every department in the previous match allowed Zimbabwe to prove that the host’s win in the first game was not a fluke. Now, it is a must-win game for team India. Even a win over Sri Lanka may not well enough for them to clinch a place in the tournament final.
After Tuesday’s victory over India with bonus point, Zimbabwe now leads the point table with 9 points from 3 games, while Sri Lanka takes the second spot with 5 points from 2 games. India has only 4 points with a game in hand.
A victory over Sri Lanka would earn India 4 more points, and thus, making their total points 8. Even that would not be enough for India if Sri Lanka in the last match defeats Zimbabwe, and thus, being level with Zimbabwe on 9 points, a point ahead of India. So, Raina and his team must go for a victory with bonus point against Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka knows another defeat to India could be too costly for them in their pursuit of progressing to the tournament final. Lankans were outshined in the first match against India, but came back in style against Zimbabwe in their second match as they won the affair with bonus point. However, it is also true that Zimbabwe’s poor show made it easy for Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka may not bring any change in their eleven against India, but pressure will be on all rounder Thissara Perera who could not live up to the expectation in the first two games. There are a number of promising all rounders like Jeevan Mendis who are waiting for a chance.
India could replace out-of-form opener Murali Vijay with uncapped Naman Ojha. Opening pair have been a matter of worry for team India in the tournament as Dinesh Karthik and Vijay failed to lay a solid foundation for the middle order.
Middle order is perhaps India’s biggest strength as Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma all have got runs in the recent past. However, there are questions regarding the role of Yusuf Pathan in the team. Pathan, though playing as an all rounder, could hardly make any impact with bat and ball in the tournament so far. Even, Raina did not give him ball in the last two games.
Inexperience could be the only excuse behind the toothless Indian pace attack, but question still arises: are they so inexperienced that they had to concede 222 runs in 35.4 overs averaging 6.27 against Zimbabwe?
So, India would most likely to rely on their spinners. Ojha, Mishra and Jadeja would have to pull the string for team India, if they really want to stop the in-form Sri Lankan batsmen Dilshan and Angelo Matthews.
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