India tour of Sri Lanka 2024 

SL vs IND, 3rd ODI

Preview 

In an unexpected turnaround, Sri Lanka defeated India in the second ODI match of the series to go one up in the three-match series. After an inspirational tie in the opening game, the Lankans produced another stellar performance in the second game to gain a 1-0 lead. 

With only a game remaining, the visitors now face the daunting challenge of levelling the series to avoid a humiliating series defeat against their neighbours. Sri Lanka's last ODI series win against India was back in 1997. 

No one expected Sri Lanka to defeat the world’s top-ranked side in the ongoing series. Especially as hosts are without numerous frontline bowlers and India is nearly at full strength. However, they’ve used the slow and sluggish playing conditions to their advantage and caused Indian batters problems aplenty. Following a tie in the series opener, Sri Lanka put up a tremendous effort in the second ODI to emerge victorious by 32 runs. 

Sri Lanka found themselves in a precarious position at 136-6 batting first on another slow track at the R Premadasa Stadium. However, an important 72-run stand between Wellalage and Mendis steadied SL’s ship and the duo helped them post a competitive 240-9. Jeffrey Vadnsersay (6/33) then stunned India despite a strong start restricting them to 208 runs. 

Sri Lankan batters haven’t been amongst the runs, but the likes of Avishka Fernando, Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis have chipped in with valuable contributions at the top of the order. 

Skipper Charith Asalanka has failed miserably as a batsman but has been a revelation with ball in hand. He has already picked 6 wickets at an impressive economy of 3.29. 

Dunith Wellalage has been the player to look after in this series. The youngster has dominated India with both bat and ball. He has scores of 67* and 39 along with 2 wickets at 5.33.

With Wanindu Hasaranga unavailable, SL is expected to stick with the same eleven. Their spinners are cooking at the moment and are all set to be the thorn in the flesh for Indian batters. 

Team India has been far from their best in this ODI series. The slow, spin-friendly tracks haven’t allowed their batters to play through the line and they have displayed a lack of application and temperament to survive at the wicket when the going is tough. 

Skipper Rohit Sharma has led from the front, smashing two back-to-back fifties at a brisk pace. His partner Shubman Gill has provided decent support at the other end, but once the openers have perished, the middle order has simply gone to rack and ruin under pressure. 

In the last two ODIs, the visitors went from 75-0 and 97-0 to 230-10 and 2018-10 respectively. This goes on to show how badly the middle-order batters have played so far. 

Experienced campaigners like Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul have struggled to negate Sri Lanka’s spinners on this slow track and haven’t looked authoritative in their stroke play. With that being said, these are solid players and we are backing them to bounce back strongly. 

Spin-bowling all-rounder Axar has been the lone warrior for them. He scored a gritty 33 in the opening ODI followed by a feisty 44 in the second game. He has also picked three wickets with ball in hand.

Rohit might replace Shubham Dube with Riyan Parag or Arshdeep Singh in the final ODI. Parag is a plucky middle-order batter and has shown in the T20I series that his spin bowling is more than handy in these conditions. 

Mohammad Siraj has had a disappointing outing so far. He has failed to stem the flow of runs and claimed only two wickets in two games. India will rely heavily on the spin trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh and Axar. 

Match Details

Match: SL vs IND, 3rd ODI, India tour of Sri Lanka, 2024

Date: Wednesday, August 07, 2024

Time: 2:30 PM

Venue: R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Pitch and Weather Report

The R Premadasa Stadium will be slow and will continue to help spinners. The ideal time to bat here is in the first 10 overs when the pitch is a little hard and the ball is new. As the ball gets harder, the pitch becomes difficult to bat on. The average first innings score at R. Premadasa Stadium is only 225. Expect another low-scoring thriller. 

Mostly cloudy with slight chances of thunderstorms in spots is predicted weather in Colombo during match day. The game might see some rain interruptions. 

SL vs IND Squads

SL: Kusal Mendis (wk), Charith Asalanka (c), Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Janith Liyanage, Dunith Wellalage, Kamindu Mendis, Akila Dananjaya, Jeffrey Vandersay, Asitha Fernando, Chamika Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Maheesh Theekshana, Eshan Malinga, Mohamed Shiraz

IND: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (wk), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Rishabh Pant, Khaleel Ahmed, Riyan Parag, Harshit Rana

SL vs IND Probable Playing XIs

SL: Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis (wk), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka (c), Kamindu Mendis, Janith Liyanage, Dunith Wellalage, Akila Dananjaya, Asitha Fernando, Jeffrey Vandersay

IND: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Shivam Dube/ Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh

Match Prediction

The Lankan lions have a chance of securing a historic series win over India. They have been the better of the two sides in this series so far, both in terms of bowling and batting. They might lack the firepower, but their batters have hung around and done the job. Their bowlers have been excellent and have made life tough for India’s batters. 

India on the other hand has just not been at their best. Their batters have hardly shown up and have not been up to the mark. To make matters worse India’s death bowling has been terrible. For them to level this series, they need to come up with a clinical all-round show in the final ODI. 

We are backing India to win this duel and level the series. 

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