ICC World Cup 2019: Match 44, Sri Lanka vs India, Preview – Men in blue hunt for the top spot

If not for that defeat to England, the top spot in the points table was India’s to grab. They nevertheless have confirmed their position in the top two regardless of what happens in their final group stage encounter at the Headingley, but if they can win this and South Africa win their game against Australia, it could be India against New Zealand in the semi-final at Manchester.

Going by form and history, India would fancy playing in Manchester against New Zealand. The Kiwis have not been in great form and when India won the World Cup back in 1983, they defeated England at the Old Trafford in the semifinals. It seems a little unlikely considering how well Australia have been playing since the defeat to India and a match at Birmingham against the English seems to be the possible outcome.

Sri Lanka registered their third win against West Indies in what transpired to be one of the games of the tournament. There was some action-packed cricket in that game and they will try and push the Indians till the final ball as well, which means there would be no scope for complacency from the Indians.

Playing Combinations

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka will go unchanged from their previous game. Avishka Fernando has been a breath of fresh air for the Islanders and they need other talented batsmen in the line-up like Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis to fire with the willow. Angelo Mathews bowled for the first time in 18 months against West Indies and picked up the big wicket of Nicholas Pooran. Isuru Udana, Kasun Rajitha and Lasith Malinga will be the three pacers with Jeffrey Vandersay offering his leg-breaks.

Predicted XI

Dimuth Karunaratne (C), Kusal Perera (wk), Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Isuru Udana, Kasun Rajitha, Lasith Malinga.

India

Rohit Sharma is chasing Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time record run-tally in World Cups and will be eager to go big again on Saturday. Rishabh Pant and MS Dhoni in the middle need a decent score in the middle order. Ravindra Jadeja could take Jasprit Bumrah’s place in the XI to provide the stalwart with some rest. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami have been outstanding this edition and will pose a serious threat once again.

Predicted XI

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (C), Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja/Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami

Focus will be on

Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)

Perhaps the last time we will be seeing Lasith Malinga in World Cup cricket and the Lankan fans will come in huge numbers to see their legendary cricketer represent the side for one final time. He definitely is nearing the end of his career and will be desperate to finish with some more exploits to his name. The champion cricketer also has a huge task of combating the Indian top order and it’ll be interesting to see how he approaches.

MS Dhoni (India)

The last time MS Dhoni played against Sri Lanka in the World Cup, he registered a 79-ball 91 and also hit the most memorable six in Indian cricket history. There have been rumours in the last couple of days that Dhoni could retire after this World Cup, which did make a lot of fans pretty emotional. He’s been under the scrutiny so much for his approach this tournament but he has the team’s backing.

Head to head

Matches played – 158 | India won – 90 | Sri Lanka – 56 | Tied – 1 | No Result – 11

Stat Attack

1 – Number of Sri Lankan batsmen with more than 250 runs this tournament (Kusal Perera, 255 runs).

1 – Jasprit Bumrah is one short of 100 ODI wickets and 200 International wickets.

Broadcast Details

TV – Star Sports

Online – Hotstar

Match Timings – 15:00 IST; 10:30 local