08-Aug-2008 08:00:00 GMT
India tour of Sri Lanka 2008, Test SeriesIndia v Sri Lanka Third Test Match at PSS, Colombo
Colombo: After drawing level at Galle, India will be looking to seal the series against Sri Lanka when the third and final Test gets underway at the P Saravantamuttu Stadium here from Friday.
Anil Kumble's men have their tails up after the excellent effort at Galle and seem optimistic about the prospect of pulling off a win. The first step towards realising this goal was taken on Thursday with a significant change in playing XI: after mulling over the idea for a while, the think tank has finally decided to give reserve wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel a chance in place of out-of-form Dinesh Karthik. Dinesh score just 36 runs in 4 innings and drop 5 catches and miss 1 stumping chance behind the stumps.
Sri Lanka may some change after loosing Galle Test, like opener batsman Michael Vandort may be drop and Dammika Prasad may be chance to debuts Match Report.
| Comparison |
|
India |
Sri Lanka |
| Coach |
Praddy Upton / Venktesh Prasad |
Traver Bayliss |
| ICC Ranking |
3 |
5 |
| Key Players |
Ishant, Sehwag, Kumble, Harbhajan |
Murali, Mendis, Jayewardene, Sangaakkara |
| Drawing Board |
Bat big and bat deep will be the Indian mantra. Ishant and Zaheer will be expected to make the early breakthroughs. |
Sri Lanka would want to bat first and bat bit. With the strike power of Murali and Mendis, the Lankans will be prahing for the right breaks. |
| Likely Teams |
Anil Kumble, Parthiv Patel , Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Zaheer Khan |
Ajantha Mendis, Chaminda Vaas, Dammika Prasad, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Malinda Warnapura, Michael Vandort, Muttiah Muralitharan, Thilan Samaraweera, Tillakaratne Dilshan |
| Weather |
The weather forecast for the third Test is www. Wet, Wetter, Wettest. Heavy showers are forecast for all five days of the Test. Only hopes the Lankan forecasters are as bad as the ones in Mumbai. |
| Ground |
The small boundaries will entice the batsmen from both teams to go for he shots. The pace and bounce will interest fast bowlers too at least in the first couple of sessions. Spin will play a part from Day 3. |
| ODDS |
India 5/2, Sri Lanka 13/8, Draw 5/4 |
|
