London, Ju 8 : Sri Lanka have a great opportunity. Their bowlers started off very well against South Africa, the start with the bat too was very good, but then there were no partnerships. The likes of Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Pradeep and Thisara Perera will enjoy the green tinge on the pitch. Overcast conditions generally help the bowlers to begin with a positive mindset. Batting is not going to be easy for India at least up front. India have the lowest first powerplay average in the competition and they need to bat carefully to limit damage. Exciting start in the offing.

Sri Lanka have won the toss and have opted to field

Teams:

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Niroshan Dickwella(w), Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews(c), Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera, Asela Gunaratne, Thisara Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Pradeep

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, MS Dhoni(w), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah

Kohli: 'We would have bowled first as well, but the pitch here is very good, doesn't change much. So we are not worried much about the toss. The conditions apparently are going to stay the same. So we do have to bat well at any stage of the game. The team is in a good space. We have brought good momentum into the game, but we need to play good cricket today to win. We are unchanged. Maybe for the next one we will look to do something different. Yuvi has been playing well since his return, had a decent T20 League as well and he comes to England and gets runs. Rohit playing well too, him in form is a great sign and gives the others a bit of cushion. We got to play consistent cricket. We got to respect the opposition, the conditions and embrace the challenge which is in front of us now.'

Mathews: 'We will bowl first. There is grass on the wicket and it is overcast as well. Upul Tharanga is out suspended, Kapugedara got injured yesterday and Prasanna misses out today. Myself, Danushka Gunathilaka and Thisara Perera are in. Feels awesome to be back in the team. We bowled really well and fielded pretty well. Our batting didn't click, hopefully we'll get it right today. The pressure is on, but we don't think about it. We just want to go out there and enjoy ourselves.'

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One can see Mathews and Sri Lanka are playing with a different jersey, which has a lot more yellow on it than normal. We are all gearing up for the toss. It would be very surprising if the captain opts to bat, given the pitch and the cloud cover. Anyway, we'll get to hear from the men who matter shortly. Bumrah and Malinga greet each other, before continuing their Mumbai tales.
Let me contact our correspondent, Ganesh Chandrasekaran. Okay, here's his message. 'Nothing from the practice so far that tells me that India will make a change to their playing XI from the last game.'
Well then, going by Saba's assessment, it is most likely that India will go into the game unchanged. Overhead conditions will also tempt the captain to bowl first one feels. Strangely, the ball hasn't swung much in this tournament thus far. Will we see anything different? Time will tell us.
Pitch report: 'This is a fresh wicket. This is the first time this pitch is being used in the Champions Trophy. There is fresh grass, which means the pace bowlers will get some lateral movement. When I put my hand on it, I can feel the moisture. I don't see any assistance for the spinners. One would be tempted to bowl first here,' opines Saba Karim.
Sri Lanka will have two forced changes, with stand-in skipper Upul Tharanga being slapped with a 2-match ban for Sri Lanka's 4-hour-plus bowling effort against the Proteas and Chamara Kapugedera picking up a knee injury on the eve of today's game. Mathews gets back into the XI. Who'll take Kapu's place?
After his side's thumping win against Pakistan, Kohli mentioned about picking his bowlers depending on the surface on a given day. Ashwin and Shami had to sit out at Edgbaston. Will there be any change today? Hardik Pandya's form with the bat and his ability to contribute with the ball makes him a certainty. For Ashwin to return, the captain has to be convinced that the pitch is on the slower side. We'll get into the details of the pitch in just a bit.
These two sides know each other pretty well. Looking at the ODI record, India have won 83 out of the 149 outings against Sri Lanka. So who starts favourites? It's quite easy to say that Virat Kohli and Co. have the edge at least on paper. Angelo Mathews has to deal with a lot of inexperience. Having said that, records, form, blah, blah, don't matter much. If you are mentally in a good space, things can go your way in a jiffy.