Daijiworld Media Network - Sports

Visakhapatnam, Feb 14: The decider between India and Sri Lanka on Sunday (February 14) at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium will be the first T20I for the picturesque ground (The 2012 T20I v New Zealand was washed out without a ball being bowled). However, going by the scores in the five games played in the ground, there is no doubt that it will turn out to be another track for the batters.

Shikhar Dhawan notched up his maiden T20I fifty in the last match, while Jasprit Bumrah too was very impressive with his yorkers in the final overs. The Lankans will be looking up to Dilshan to provide them some inspiration at the top of the order, something he couldn't do in the last game after MS Dhoni's lightning fast hands effected a stumping off the very first ball he faced. The inexperience of the Lankan bowlers was exposed in the last match, but it's a new day today and they'll be looking to put that performance behind them.

India have won the toss and have opted to field

Dhoni: We are playing with the same side. What's important is to do the basics right. We want to assess the wicket and then see what's the par score. If we have partnerships going, we can always get 15-20 runs more.
You may go for runs early in the over, but it all comes down to how you come back. It's important to assess your own performance and it will depend on where you're batting. It is different for every batting position. It is not about how many you score, but how quickly you score them.

Chandimal: We have made three changes. Kapugedara is injured and we have also got Dilhara back. We played some very good cricket in Pune and in the last game. We'll be looking forward to do the same thing. I think 160 would be a good total on the board.

Teams

India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(w/c), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Niroshan Dickwella, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dinesh Chandimal(w/c), Asela Gunaratne, Seekkuge Prasanna, Milinda Siriwardana, Thisara Perera, Dasun Shanaka, Sachithra Senanayake, Dilhara Fernando, Dushmantha Chameera

Match Preview

With the Asia Cup and the World T20 looming large on the horizon, it will be interesting to see how the teams line up today. But since the series currently stands at 1-1, India might still go with an unchanged side. For the Sri Lankans, the non-seaming conditions seemed to make their bowlers ineffective and they might opt for a few changes in their personnel today. Vishaal Loganathan, who is present in Vizag, tells us that Dilhara Fernando was seen marking his run-up. So, that's one change Sri Lanka are at least expected to make for this contest.

After being comprehensively beaten in the first T20I on a track that resembled English conditions, the Ranchi pitch was curated to suit the Indians and they didn't disappoint one bit. After piling 196 on the board, the Indians were merciless with the ball, never allowing the Sri Lankans to settle and the hosts emerged victorious by a 69-run margin, their third biggest win in T20Is in terms of runs.
Preview:

It may have been a humbling in Pune, but the Indian team, in Ranchi, served a reminder about how ruthless they can be if the conditions, as they are expected to be during the World Twenty20, are to their favour. While the defeat in the T20I series opener against Sri Lanka exposed India's weakness against the moving ball, the reversal in Rachi only underlined how good they can be if the conditions stay true to the ones expected in the sub-continent.

Virat Kohli (two hundreds and one 99), MS Dhoni (148 against Pakistan) and Yuvraj Singh (95 against Sri Lanka) will all have good memories of the ground at Vizag, and with India boasting of a good record (four wins in five completed games), the home side should go in as comfortable favourites against an inexperienced Sri Lankan side.

The visitors will have hopefully recovered from the mauling in Ranchi, which saw them concede close to 200 runs before losing top-order wickets in a cluster and lose the game by a handsome margin. They will, however, go into the game knowing that another inspired showing, like the one in Pune will see them win the T20I series, and give the side a massive boost ahead of the World T20.