Ruthless India aim to flatten Sri Lanka
GOING FOR KILL After Dambulla, India in with chance to wrap up series in the two ODIs in Pallekele
PALLEKELE : India hold the aces going into Thursday’s second O DI against Sri Lank a with Vi rat Kohl i’ s team ina position to wrap up the series by winning the next two games at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
India will play the last two matches in the ODI series and a one-off Twenty20 game in Colombo before flying home.
India crushed the hosts by nine wickets in the first game at Dambulla on Sunday and an opposi- tion in disarray gives Kohli and the team management another chance to fine-tune with the 2019 World Cup the target.
India will be high on confidence returning to avenue where they clinched the final Test in three days to achieve their firstever Test series sweep away from home. Besides, they also won the only O DI they played in Pal le kele, which is just off Kandy.
Sri Lanka, who have barely competed against India on this tour and lost the Test series 0-3, are under pressure on three fronts. They have to win two matches in the five-game series if they are to pip West Indies and claim the eighth direct spot for the World Cup by the September 30 deadline.
Kohli’s aim before the series was to give players opportunities and test others in specific roles. Among batsmen, Rohit Sharma will look to make amends for his early run out in Dambulla while in-form KL Rahul, who didn’ t get to bat in that game, will be eager to get a hit.
All-round er H ar di k Pandy a is very much a work in progress as an ODI pace bowler and could continue to open the bowling. India will need all the pacers to be fit and ready to go in the next few months. And even Shardul Thakur would hope to get a game in the series.
Sri Lanka ODI skipper Upul Tharanga was hopeful his team will somehow find away out and hinted there could be some changes in the line-up. Sri Lankan batsmen were guilty of playing rash shots, leaving their under-cooked bowling unit with just 216 to defend.
“As a team I have faith in the players… We we reina good position at one stage in the first O DI but unfortunately we collapsed .”
Tharanga acknowledged a direct World Cup spot was in danger .“As a team, we goto each match to win. We are not thinking too far. Tomorrow’s contest is vital for us because we lost the first. To qualify for the 2019 World Cup, we have to win two matches-and all the players are aware of it.”