Sri Lanka and India eye final spot
With all three teams having recorded one win a piece in the Nidahas Trophy 2018 triangular T20 tournament, Sri Lanka will face India today at the R. Premadasa Stadium without their captain Dinesh Chandimal who was suspended for two matches for a slow over-rate in Saturday’s match against Bangladesh.
Sri Lanka will be captained by Thisara Perera for their final two round robin games today and on Friday.
Sri Lanka and India had met in the opening game of the series with the home team had little trouble chasing down India’s 174 then, helped along by Kusal Perera’s whirlwind 66.
But with India defeating Bangladesh by six wickets first, and Sri Lanka losing to the same opponents by five wickets, the tournament has seen all three teams evenly placed on points. This means whoever wins today’s encounter will control their fate in the tournament, as they attempt to qualify for Sunday’s final. Chris Broad of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees imposed a fine after Chandimal’s side was ruled to be four overs short of their target when time allowances were taken into consideration, which is considered a serious over-rate offence.
According to the code of conduct, players are fined 10 per cent of their match fees for the first two overs and 20 per cent per additional over their side failed to bowl in the allotted time, while the captain receives two suspension points.as two suspension points equate to a ban from one Test or two ODIS or two T20IS, whatever comes first for the player, Chandimal has been suspended from his side’s 12 and 16 March fixtures against India and Bangladesh respectively, while each of his players have received a fine of 60 per cent of the match fee.