India had a night to forget in the opening T20 of their series with Sri Lanka in Pune on Tuesday so they head to Ranchi on Friday knowing there is no room for failure if they are to keep the series alive and force a decider.
Sri Lanka must have thought they were dreaming at times in the first match. Their second string seamers ran through the India top order and as early as 10 overs in there was no way back for the home side. The tourists head to Ranchi knowing if they can repeat that result they will win the series with a match to spare.
India will do well to bat as badly again as they did in the first game but one does wonder if that batting performance was a legacy of having no Virat Kohli in the side. Either way they know they have to improve to have any chance here but I would expect conditions to favour them more here.
I’ve thought for a while that Hardik Pandya has been an automatic change in waiting and it looks like now could be the time for that change to take place. Pawan Negi could get an international debut in his place with the wicket likely to turn.
Sri Lanka had plenty of experienced players out so it will have been a real joy for all involved in their cricket to see the likes of Kasun Rajitha, Dushmantha Chameera and Dasun Shanaka bowl with such accuracy and perhaps more importantly such pace.
Tillakaratne Dilshan is fit after missing the opening match with injury and he will return to the top of the order where Niroshan Dickwella is likely to be the man axed. That means Dinesh Chandimal will add the keeping duties to his captaincy role with Angelo Mathews still on the sidelines.
The venue for this match is the JSCA International Stadium Complex. This will be the first T20 international on the ground but it has held three ODIs and it was used in the Indian Premier League last season so the ground won’t be too unfamiliar.
One thing I don’t expect to see here is a wicket as green as the one in Pune. I would expect we’ll be back to the low and slow tracks that India are famous for, tracks that will suit their spinners and their attack as a whole.
I think India will bounce back and win this match but they are untouchable at the current odds given how they performed on Tuesday. It will just be about winning for them from where they were there so even a handicap isn’t a great proposition.
If the wicket is a bit tired and dry and the spinners are more in the game like I think they will be then the boundaries line could be a little high here at 36.5. I don’t see India coming out smashing it to all parts like they tried to do in Pune because they’ll look stupid if they are skittled again and I don’t expect Sri Lanka to have it all their own way against this bowling attack.
The ODIs and the IPL most recent match here weren’t particularly high scoring so with the amount of pace I expect to come off the ball I fancy the boundary count to stay under the 36.5 total.
I took Milinda Siriwardana to top score for Sri Lanka in the first game and he ran out of time in the end but I think he is worth chancing again. I think India’s attack might get him in a bit earlier and being a left hander and India likely to have two left arm spinners he should be better suited to playing the spin.
He was 9/1 then and he’s only 7/1 now but I still think there is enough margin in that price to have another go on the all-rounder to top score.
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