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Fatullah: Their battered pride regained after snapping an eight-ODI winless streak, five-time champions India will look to build a winning momentum when they take on Sri Lanka in what could by their first real test in the Asia Cup on Friday.
India notched up a six-wicket win against hosts Bangladesh in their opening match of the five-nation regional tournament on Wednesday but their real test begins Friday against the Lankans who had beaten defending champions Pakistan by 12 runs.
Back on the familiar sub-continental conditions after humiliating series defeats in South Africa and New Zealand, India chased down 280 at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium to register their first win after six looses.
Stand-in skipper Virat Kohli smashed a 122-ball 136 in a 213-run partnership with Ajinkya Rahane who returned to ODI form with a 73 to hand India a perfect start to their Asia Cup campaign.
That the talented middle order batsman Rahane shook off a string of failures in New Zealand where he totalled 51 from five ODIs would mean India's middle order would be settled before the two key clashes -- against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
As India's progression into the final will hinge on the results of the two key clashes, Kohli's men do not have the luxury to relax.
Kohli had got a reprieve on 35 as Bangladesh failed to grab their share of chances. The skipper's cheap dismissal would have certainly exposed the new-look Indian middle order in their chase of 280 and could have tilted the match the other way.
Struggling for quite some time, openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan had some testing times against an ordinary Bangladesh attack.
But, in a crucial match like against Sri Lanka, it would be interesting to see whether skipper Kohli will gamble bringing in Pujara or retain the winning XI.
As for bowling, Varun Aaron was the biggest let down as his sheer pace never troubled the Bangladeshi batsmen duo of Mushfiqur Rahim and Anamul Haque who posted a century stand to help their team pile 279/7.
On otherhand, having arrived in the country late January for a full series, Sri Lanka have been experiencing an extended taste of Bangladeshi conditions as they won the Test series 1-0, the Twenty20s 2-0 before a 3-0 sweep in the one-dayers.
But in their Asia Cup opener on Wednesday, Sri Lanka had some jittery moments when Pakistan looked to be in control of the 297-run chase, needing 55 from 46 balls with six wickets in hand.
It was, however, before Malinga single-handedly changed the complexion of the game with his toe-crushing yorkers. He went for six-plus an over after his first seven overs but came back with four wickets in his last three overs to turn the game in his side's favour in the death overs.
But his inability to trouble the top-order would once again come under scrutiny as he takes on the Indian batsmen.
Sri Lankan batting will have the calming influence of Sangakkara who is in the middle of a dream run here that includes his maiden triple century in Tests.
Sangakkara scored a half-century against Pakistan but it was their young opener Thirimanne who impressed with a fluent century. Thirimanne has been backed by the selectors to open instead of senior-most Mahela Jayawardene.
Thirimanne was fluent from the outset and had a strike rate of 92.72. For a batsman who has spent much of the past two months sidelined with injury, Thirimanne was as stoic as he was confident.
In Kusal Perera, who scored a maiden ODI century in Sri Lanka's 3-0 win against Bangladesh the other day, Thirimanne will have a perfect partner as the duo will look to give their side a perfect start.
Teams from:
India: Virat Kohli (Capt.), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Varun Aaron, Cheteshwar Pujara, Stuart Binny, Amit Mishra and Ishwar Pandey.
Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (Capt.), Kusal Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Thisara Perera, Chaturanga de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Sachithra Senanayake, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal, Ajantha Mendis, Ashan Priyanjan and Dhammika Prasad.
Pitch and conditions
These are fairly good batting conditions and a lightning quick outfield so a huge total can't be too far away. Bowling always difficult under dew in second inning.
Stats and trivia
Match facts
Friday February 28, 2014 (day/night)
Start time 1400 local (0800 GMT, 1.30pm IST & SLST)
