Wounded Sri Lanka faces tough Indian challenge

London: Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews set to play, with rain again expected against India at The Oval on Thursday.

Familiar subcontinental foes look to renew rivalry, with Sri Lanka hoping its young side can step up.

Head-2-Head in ODIs:
Of the 149 ODI games played between these two sides, India enjoys the advantage of having won 83 matches. Sri Lanka has 54 wins, with one tied match and 11 no results. In Champions Trophy India have won last encouner at Cardiff and two final in 2002 washes out.

Previous Champions Trophy encounters:

1. Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, June 20, 2013
   India won by eight wickets
2. R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, September 29, 2002
   No Result
3. R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, September 30, 2002 (Play again in reserve day)
   No Result

Key players for each side:

With an excellent record against Sri Lanka, Virat Kohli will be looked at as the primary threat. His astounding form in the past couple of years, and his versatility as a batsman will definitely be on the minds of the Sri Lankans. If Sri Lanka allows Kohli to settle in early during his innings, he could virtually bat them out of the game.

Sri Lanka’s ODI team is in a transition phase, where new players are being tried out to fill the shoes of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. One of the most promising players in the current set-up is Kusal Mendis. His technically sound batting and ability to hit boundaries at regular intervals were on consistent display against England during the 2016 ODI series.

Teams from:

India: Virat Kohli (Capt.), MS Dhoni (wk), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Umesh Yadav

Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (Capt.), Upul Tharanga (vc), Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera (wk), Chamara Kapugedera, Asela Gunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Kulasekara, Nuwan Pradeep, Thisara Perera, Lakshan Sandakan and Seekkuge Prasanna

Stats and trivia

• Rohit Sharma’s record highest ODI score of 264 came against Sri Lanka.
• Virat Kohli averages 56.24 against Sri Lanka with six centuries against them.
• Sri Lanka’s highest score against India is 411, three shy of India’s 414.

Best at Champions Trophy:
India: Winners 2013; Joint-winners (with Sri Lanka) 2002
Sri Lanka: Joint-winners (with India) 2002

Match facts
Thursday June 8, 2017
Start time: 10:30 local | 09:30 GMT