Sri Lanka’s ace paceman Chaminda Vaas warms up before training at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo yesterday together with team-mates Ajantha Mendis, Sanath Jayasuriya, Thilina Tushara, T.M. Dilshan and trainer Jade Roberts. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
After two dull low scoring games in Dambulla, Sri Lanka and India cricket teams will resume their rivalry at the R. Premadasa Stadium today on a wicket that’s expected to produce a high scoring thriller.
With the series squared at 1-1, the day night encounter has become a major attraction with Sri Lanka Cricket announcing that all tickets for the game sold out with the exception of Rs.50 tickets.
However, if someone is so desperate for a ticket, there will be a plenty available in the black market in and around the Premadasa Stadium, as it has been the case in recent years.
All the attention, meanwhile, will be on the country’s ace paceman Chaminda Vaas, who has recovered from a hamstring injury that he sustained prior to the second ODI and is expected to play today. Vaas needs one more wicket to become the fourth bowler in the history of the sport to take 400 wickets after Wasim Akram, Muttiah Muralitharan and Waqar Younis.
"Vaas bowled on both days and had a bit of bat as well. He looks good. Right now he’s got a good chance of making it. Other than that, we will stick to the same combination more or less," Sri Lanka’s captain Mahela Jayawardene told journalists yesterday.
He also praised the left-arm seamer’s contribution to Sri Lankan cricket. Since making his debut in 1994, Vaas is one of the three members in the current squad to have played the 1996 World Cup and has also picked up over 300 wickets in Tests.
"Vaasy’s contribution to Sri Lankan cricket is huge. On sub-continent conditions, it’s not an easy task. Him and Murali have done the job for us for sometime and there are few young guys coming through. But those two have been the role models. Vaasy has been there for so long and 400 wickets is a great thing for anybody," Jayawardene added.
That’s the only change Sri Lanka is likely to do for today’s game while India also have good news as opener Gautam Gambhir returns to the side having missed the second game with a stiff neck. India is likely to play seven batsmen with Irfan Pathan making way to Gambhir.
"It was good that we won in Dambulla. Otherwise, we would have come to Premadasa under pressure. But at this stage it’s pretty even and we need to take a lead in the series," Indian captain M.S. Dhoni said.
India have been hit hard in this series after their regular openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag were forced to return home with injuries. While Tendulkar hurt his left elbow while fielding during the third Test Match at the P. Sara Stadium, Sehwag twisted his ankle during practices. They were further handicapped ahead of the second ODI when Gambhir was ruled out.
The Premadasa wicket has generally helped batsmen and Jayawardene expected the wicket to produce a lot of runs.
"It’s a different wicket. Much firmer than what it used to be at Premadasa. The ball will probably come onto the bat. There’ll definitely be more runs," Jayawardene added.
A player, who has enjoyed the conditions here is Sri Lankan opener Sanath Jayasuriya. The left-hander cracked his career best Test score of 341 here 11 years ago and has scored 2,212 ODI runs at R. Premadasa, only 252 runs less than the highest score by a cricketer at a single ground. The record is held by Pakistan’s Inzamam-ul-Haq, who scored 2,464 runs at Sharjah at 50.28 with four hundreds and 17 fifties. Jayasuriya, meanwhile, has averaged 40.96 here and has also scored four hundreds and 17 fifties.
Teams:************************
Sri Lanka (Probable XI)
Mahela Jayawardene (Captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Chamara Kapugedara, Chamara Silva, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Tushara Mirando, Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan.
India (From)
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Subramaniam Badrinath, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Munaf Patel and Pragyan Ojha.
Umpires: Billy Doctrove (WI) and T.H. Wijewardene (SL)
Third Umpire: Gamini Silva (SL)
Match Referee: Chris Broad (Eng)
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