Venue: R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Time: 8:00PM IST
Average score at venue: 145
Win percentage while batting first: 50%
Pitch Conditions:
- Spinners will be vital for both the teams in the final match of the tour which is also set to be the series decider of the T20I affair. Sri Lankan spinners would be particularly confident after their exploits in the second match.
- In all the five matches across formats so far at this venue, batsmen have not been able to make heavy scores despite finding the ball coming onto the bat comfortably on many occasions.
- Spin bowlers have a wicket-share percentage of 55.93% compared to fast bowlers’ 44.07% at the Khettarama Stadium.
Weather prediction:
It will remain partly cloudy on Thursday night in Colombo with temperatures being constant at 27° celsius throughout the match hours, which is also the same for humidity levels, at 88%.
Head-to-head performance:
Matches played: 21
India won: 14
Sri Lanka won: 6
Tied: –
No result: 1
AT R PREMADASA STADIUM, COLOMBO:
Matches played: 6
India won: 4
Sri Lanka won: 2
No result: –
Top 3 players from India: Shikhar Dhawan, Devdutt Padikkal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Top 3 players from Sri Lanka: Avishka Fernando, Dhananjaya de Silva, Minod Bhanuka
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each)
Top 5 players from India: Shikhar Dhawan, Devdutt Padikkal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rahul Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav
Top 5 players from Sri Lanka: Avishka Fernando, Dhananjaya de Silva, Minod Bhanuka, Akila Dananjaya, Wanindu Hasaranga.
Q&A:
Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
Spin bowlers continue to carry the importance in this white-ball series where they have been able to influence almost all the matches heavily in the favour of their respective teams. Sri Lanka were able to build up a platform for their eventual victory in the second T20I on the basis of how Akila Dananjaya and Wanindu Hasaranga bowled early on in the innings. At the same time, it was a little tricky for the Sri Lankan batsmen to get past the Indian spin bowling attack of Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy, with Rahul Chahar providing plenty of support from his end. Picking batsmen who can adjust quickly with the pace of the ball and bowlers who can be tight with the line and lengths, such as Chakravarthy for India and Dananjaya for Sri Lanka, would probably be the right way to go.
From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
At this stage both India and Sri Lanka are without several of their superstar players, those who form the core strength of the team. India were desperately short of batting options as they could name only five specialist batsmen in the second T20I which will also be the case for them in the final game of the series. On the other hand, Sri Lanka are ailing with the lack of discipline and overall game sense as far as their batting is concerned, since some of them did not really bat with responsibility and ownership which is expected by their coach Mickey Arthur and the team management. India have plenty of T20 specialists coming from the Indian T20 stage, which should certainly benefit them when it comes to handling pressure and delivering in crunch situations better than the Sri Lankan counterparts, making them the team to pick more players from.
MORE INFORMATION:
Players’ form: After losing as many as nine players to the coronavirus pandemic regulations, India also suffered another injury blow in the form of Navdeep Saini who did not bowl at all in the second T20I but ended up injuring his hand towards the end of the match. India will thus have to select one more player from the bunch of net bowlers they incorporated into their squad late on Wednesday, with R Sai Kishore and Arshdeep Singh touted as front-runners for a debut on Thursday night. Sri Lanka were also without their star performer Charith Asalanka who is not expected to be available for the final match of the series, which means that the others in Avishka Fernando, Minod Bhanuka and Dhananjaya De Silva will have to shoulder more responsibility with the bat.
Changes in squad (if any): YES
LIKELY XIs:
INDIA (IND): Shikhar Dhawan (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (wk), Nitish Rana, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh/R Sai Kishore, Chetan Sakariya, Varun Chakravarthy.
SRI LANKA (SL): Avishka Fernando, Minod Bhanuka (wk), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dhananjaya de Silva, Ramesh Mendis, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Isuru Udana, Dushmantha Chameera, Akila Dananjaya.
FANTASY XI:
Shikhar Dhawan (c), Avishka Fernando, Minod Bhanuka (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Rana, Dhananjaya de Silva, Wanindu Hasaranga, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Akila Dananjaya.
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Depleted teams set for thrilling series final
India’s batsmen will have to find a way around Sri Lanka’s spin bowling attack on a sluggish and slow pitch at the R Premadasa stadium, combined with a slow outfield as well, in order to get the better of the home team and clinch the T20I series which is currently levelled at 1-1.
Sri Lanka managed to notch up a series-levelling victory on Wednesday night with four wickets to spare as they spun a web around the young and inexperienced Indian batting line-up, which consisted of only five specialist batsmen including three who were making their debuts.
While Devdutt Padikkal and Ruturaj Gaikwad got plenty of time at the top of the order to give their first impressions on the international stage, Nitish Rana was in a race against time to get as many runs as possible towards the ending stages of India’s innings on Wednesday — something that was not a true reflection of his batting abilities since he bats at the top of the order.
The ordinary score of 132/5 would not be as disappointing for India as was the performance of their experienced player Sanju Samson, someone who has been facing a perennial question of not living up to the expectations at the biggest stage despite getting plenty of opportunities.
Samson was poor with both bat and with the gloves in the second game and he will be expected to make a strong impression for one last time, before he gets into the contention for a place with the regular players when it is time for selecting the squad for the Cricket T20 World Cup 2021.
India will have to make another change to their playing XI with Navdeep Saini injuring his hand and be unlikely to take part in the final match of the series. The right-arm lanky fast bowler also surprisingly did not bowl at all in the second match.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka will be buoyant with their exploits in the second match wherein their spinners outshone that of India’s in both skills and purchase off the pitch. Wanindu Hasaranga and Akila Dananjaya have bowled their hearts out in the last few matches and they remain dangerous prospects for the Indian batsmen to face on the Khettarama pitch, which is increasingly getting difficult to bat on and put big totals on board.
But Sri Lanka will also have to be wary of the nervousness that persists in their ranks among batsmen who do not approach their job with comfort and ease. Minod Bhanuka did extremely well at the top of the order but he was constantly playing risky shots in the second game, which eventually led to his dismissal at a stage when Sri Lanka were still a considerable distance away from the finish line.
Given the present scenario and situation with both the teams lacking plenty of their frontline players, it will be a huge achievement for either of the teams to pull off a favourable result in the series decider on Thursday night.
