India vs Sri Lanka - 2nd ODI: Match Preview

India won the 1^st ODI comprehensively and Sri Lanka will struggle to force a comeback in Ahmedabad

The 2nd ODI of the 5-match series heads to the Motera stadium in Ahmedabad, where India will looking to sustain their momentum from the previous game, which they won by a comprehensive margin at Cuttack.

Sri Lanka have a lot to ponder, as nothing when right for them, right from their bowling department to the implosion of their batsmen, as Ishant Sharma led the pace attack to trample the visitors by a whopping 179 runs.

Head to head at this ground:

Both teams are equal in terms of their head to head at this ground, having won a match each. India scrapped through the Lankans by 6 runs in 1989, while Sri Lanka won by a better margin, 5 wickets in 2005.

Pitch and weather conditions:

After winning the toss in the quarterfinal game of the 2011 World Cup, Ricky Ponting expected this wicket to get slower as the game progressed. His counterpart, Dhoni too mentioned that it would assist the spinners more. The wicket may spin more from the Pavilion End. So my suggestion to the captain would be to bat first on winning the toss.

The weather conditions are perfectly aright to get a game, with forecast predicting that around 4 pm it will get around 33 degree celcius. Pure sunny weather has been predicted for the game.

India:

India didn’t get off the blocks from the word go. They were going at about 4 per over, but importantly, kept all their wickets in hand. They started to explode in the 24th over, when they took the batting powerplay. Then it was a masterclass show from Rahane and Dhawan, with both of them sealing their tons in the process.

Raina continued his magnificent form from England and West Indies series. Their only problem for India is that Varun Aaron, one of their faster bowlers, has been ruled of the remainder of the ODI series, after he went off without completing his full quota of 10 overs. Stuart Binny is his replacement. But it’s doubtful whether he will be preferred over Ravindra Jadeja. Akshar Patel has looked good in both the games he has represented India, and odds are in favour of him to book his place in Australia.

Sri Lanka:

They were absolutely in dire straits. The game was gone from their grasp once India took the batting powerplay, and apart from Mahela Jayawardene, no batsman seemed to get going. Upul Tharanga had a torrid time during his stay at the crease, managing a paltry 28 from 53 deliveries. Genrally, he does well against India. Sangakkara’s dismissal triggered their implosion, but he could have done nothing on that pecah of a delivery from Ishant Sharma, who made him play at the delivery, resulting in an edge and Saha accepted that gleefully.

Their bowling look very weak without Malinga and Herath. They need an absolute miracle to turn their game around and make a comeback in the series.

Expected team changes:

India – Ravindra Jadeja in place of Varun Aaron, as Binny might not be preferred.

Sri Lanka – Nuwan Kulasekara in place of Lahiru Gamage, who looked absoultely jaded and clueless.

Match begins at 01:30 PM IST.