Crucial match for Sri Lanka

Ranjan Anandappa in Australia

The picturesque Manuka Oval located in a quiet suburb in Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) will host its first one day international today (Tuesday) when Sri Lanka meet a confident and resurgent Indian team in a crucial match.

A win against India will do a load of good for the confidence of the islanders and to keep their hopes alive in qualifying for the best of three finals.

A defeat against India today would be a major draw back for the islanders to proceed in their quest to reach the finals of the tournament, though they will have further 5 more qualifying matches.

With three matches played India leads the points table with 8 points and Australia has 7 points playing the same number of games. Sri Lanka is at the bottom of the table with 2 points (in two games) and can ill afford to lose against India their game No. 3 of the tournament. Each team has 8 games in the qualifying round.

The young Indian team though making it look a bit difficult when chasing the modest Australian total last Sunday at MCG, were quite impressive with Dhoni commanding his troops admirably.

Particularly impressive was the lanky long haired teenage paceman Ishan Sharma who showed that he could be as devastating as Glenn McGrath in his uncanny accuracy and the ability to bowl consistently in the corridor of uncertainty generating plenty of pace.

Sharma is a man for future and if nursed properly has the potential to be a big name in the future. Rohith Sharma, the 20-year right-hander is another young Indian who looks destined to excel in the big league for many more years. With Tendulkar batting with maturity and also showing that he has not lost none of his younger day pomp, India look formidable at this stage.

Their meek capitulation against Australia at SCG last Friday surely would not have done any good for the confidence of the Sri Lanka team.

They must bury the past, learn the lessons and regroup themselves and come out with an improved performance to overcome the enthusiastic young Indians. Composition of the team will be crucial.

Reliance on the star trio; Jayasuriya, Sangakkara and the skipper in the batting department is a worrying factor with Tharanga, Chamara Silva and Kapugedara looking out of form and out of touch. Skipper Mahela Jayawardena and the selectors might surely consider the possibility of including Dilruwan Perera, as a specialist batsman or an all rounder.

The wicket in Manuka Oval conventionally is regarded as a good strip to bat. Being a day match and the play scheduled to commence at 10am local time; it would be interesting to see what part the toss could play in the match.

Both teams would have a closer look at the wicket before finalising the respective teams.

It will be a significant day in Canberra, as they will host their first ever one-day international match. Sri Lankan coach Trevor Bayliss was confident that his team could bounce back and get on track in the tri-nation series.

The team arrived in Canberra on Sunday afternoon. The Australian born Sri Lankan coach said that " In the context of it we'll be looking out for a win to get a bit of confidence. In their second tour match against Australian Prime Ministers XI Sri Lanka bowled out Kevin Rudd's XI for 152 but failed to capitalise and won by only four wickets.

When the pitch was inspected at 5pm today, it was dry and flat with traces of grass, and looks ideal for batting.