Nidahas Trophy, Match 4, India v Sri Lanka: Men in Blue Look to Bag their 2nd Victory of the Tournament
(Photo credit should read LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/Getty Images)

After losing the opening clash to Sri Lanka, the Men in Blue bounced back strongly and pocketed the 2nd match against Bangladesh to keep the tri-nation series in the balance. The Nidahas Trophy thus far has been pretty exciting with each team winning one and losing one after the completion of a couple of matches each.

India batted pretty well in both the matches. Opener Shikhar Dhawan has been in some form in the recent past. The southpaw has scored heaps of runs, especially in limited overs format in the recent past. In the 1st match, he struck a 49 balls 90 which eventually propelled India to a competitive total of 174 runs.

While chasing it was a brilliant knock from the blade of Kusal Perera which helped Sri Lanka track the total down with relative comfort. The southpaw struck 66 of 37 deliveries which contained five fours and four sixes. The run chase was thoroughly professional. In the 2nd match, the Men in Blue came back strongly and won quite comfortably against Bangladesh.

Chasing 140 to win, India strolled through Bangladesh bowlers. They eventually reached the target in the 19th over with six wickets left. Meanwhile, Bangladesh also scripted history by chasing down a gigantic 215 against Sri Lanka to keep the series in the balance.

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Despite fielding a relatively 2nd string team, India has some big names in their ranks who can change the complexion of any match within a blink of an eye. Openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan need to come good together. India is likely to name an unchanged XI after victory over Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka who performed pretty well in the previous match might well be tempted to keep the same playing XI. The bowling line-up can be chopped and changed given they were smashed for plenty of runs in yesterday’s clash against Bangladesh.

Here is the Predicted XIs:

Sri Lanka XI

Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Dinesh Chandimal (c & wk), Upul Tharanga, Dasun Shanaka, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Akila Dananjaya, Dushmantha Chameera, Nuwan Pradeep

India XI

Shikhar  Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Vijay Shankar, Washington Sundar, Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur

Match Prediction:

Despite losing the opening encounter against the same opponents, the Men in Blue will star as favourites to lift the cup. Both teams have some special talent in their ranks and on their day can decimate any bowling attack and vice versa.

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A Cricket Expert who loves revolving his life around the game. An extremely passionate music lover who loves singing and listening to Arijit Singh songs.