Big picture: Two teams with contrasting fortunes
India have lived up to the billing of being the pre-tournament favourites. They have won all of their six matches so far despite missing Shubman Gill for their first two and Hardik Pandya for the last two. If they beat Sri Lanka on Thursday, they will become the first team to qualify for the semi-finals.
Sri Lanka, who made it to this World Cup via the Qualifier route, are struggling to stay alive. They have just four points from six games and are coming off the back of a loss to Afghanistan. Another defeat will push them to the brink of elimination.
Sri Lanka, too, have lost multiple players to injuries, including their designated captain Dasun Shanaka. In his absence, Kusal Mendis took over the reins but it seems to have affected his batting. In the first two games, when Shanaka was the captain, Mendis smashed 198 runs at a strike rate of 166.38. Since then, he has managed just 70 in four innings at a strike rate of 76.08.
Form guide: India’s winning streak
India WWWWW (last five ODIs, most recent first)
Sri Lanka LWWLL
In the spotlight: Shreyas Iyer and Angelo Mathews
Team news: Will Wellalage get a chance?
With Hardik unavailable, India are likely to field an unchanged XI.
India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Sri Lanka could consider bringing in Dinuth Wellalage for Dhananjaya de Silva.
Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Dimuth Karunaratne, 3 Kusal Mendis (capt, wk), 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Dinuth Wellalage/Dhananjaya de Silva, 8 Kasun Rajitha, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Dilshan Madushanka, 11 Dushmantha Chameera
Pitch and conditions: Runs galore
Stats and trivia: Kohli on the cusp of records
- Virat Kohli (48) is one short of equalling Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most ODI hundreds.
- Kohli is on the verge of breaking another Tendulkar record. Currently, both are tied for 1000 ODI runs in a calendar year on most occasions (seven). Kohli needs just another 34 runs this year to go past Tendulkar.
- If Shreyas Iyer scores 65 runs in his next three innings, he will become the third-fastest Indian to the mark.
- Mathews has dismissed Rohit Sharma seven times in ODIs – more than any other bowler – including twice on zero. Against Mathews, Rohit averages 14.71 at a strike rate of 58.85.
- Sadeera Samarawickrama is 54 away from 1000 ODI runs. If he gets there on Thursday, he will be the joint-fastest Sri Lankan, alongside Roy Dias (27 innings), to get there.
- Maheesh Theekshana is three short of 50 ODI wickets.
Quotes
“Thankfully we do have a few people who are in form. I mean Kusal [Mendis] has played some super knocks here, Sadeera has been Mr. Consistent, as has Pathum [Nissanka] at the top of the order.”
Head coach Chris Silverwood on the few things that are going right for Sri Lanka’s batting order
Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
