The last time these two teams met in a tournament final, Sachin Tendulkar produced a match-winning century that saw India win with relative ease. Not many people remember though, that there were other vital contributions too – Yuvraj and Dhoni both scored fifties, while Harbhajan Singh picked up 5/56.
For Sri Lanka, Dilshan started off the chase by smashing 42 off 29 balls, while Sri Lanka’s highest score was made by Kandamby who made 66.
Of the protagonists above, only Tendulkar will be absent in this final, while Dilshan has taken his game to the next level from where he was then. The scenario is also a little different now. In September ‘09, victory in the finals gave India a brief reign as the top ODI team. Now, India enter the finals as the top Test team. (more…)
With India trouncing Sri Lanka to confirm its place in the final, the last round robin game of the tri nation series hosted by Bangladesh has no consequence. However, the match will be far from inconsequential for the hosts. Thanks to the ICC’s future tours program, Bangladesh has not played a team ranked above them the last year. That states a lot when you consider that Bangladesh is the last placed test playing nation. With a demanding fan base, an optimistic coach, and some useful talent, Bangladesh will use every opportunity to gauge themselves against the best.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni lavished praise on his fast bowling department for charting an impressive eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka and sealing their berth in the final of the tri-nation cricket series here on Sunday.
The Shere Bangla National Stadium is located in Mirpur, about 10 Kms from the Dhaka city centre. The ground came into prominence after the Bangladesh cricket board decided to have a stadium dedicated exclusively for cricket. Although the shift from the Bangabandhu National stadium to here was met with a lot of resistance, the BCB went ahead with their decision. The Shere Bangla pitch is a true wicket assisting the batsmen and the bowlers through out the day. However, the dew factor comes into play forcing the captain winning the toss to field first most of the time.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Tuesday blamed the team’s inability to defend a decent total to the dew factor and said the side might request the organisers for an early start to the remaining matches.
India have to win all their matches in Bangladesh and Pakistan need to beat Australia comprehensively.