Preview: The Final, 28th August 2010, Dambulla.

Balanced combination makes Sri Lanka favorites to win

India-Sri Lanka encounters have always been as capricious as English weather. While Sri Lanka is hard to beat at home, the fact that, Indians have acclimatized to the Lankan conditions very well as they have been playing almost 40 percent of their cricket on Lankan soil since Asia cup 2008, almost negates home advantage for Lankans.

India’s chances of winning this ultimate finale will be highly augmented if Virender Sehwag continues his stupendous form. Sri Lanka will be heavily relying on their pace spearhead Malinga to shatter India’s top order.

As far as batting is concerned Sri Lanka has a little edge over Indians. Indian batsmen have been in miserable form throughout the tournament. Young brigade of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik has a combined aggregate total of 94 runs in 4 matches. These figures clearly macerate chances of India posting a mammoth total batting first. On the other hand, Dilshan, Skipper, Jayawardene and Tharanga are among the runs. Kapugedera and Thisara Perera can be dangerous lower down the order.

Salubrious swinging conditions give slight advantage to Indian new ball bowler Pravin Kumar as he can be really lethal with new ball in such conditions. He is certainly the key factor in Indian bowling department. If Ishant Sharma is allowed to share new ball with Kumar, then it eliminates the risk of Nehra being hit all over the park by left-handers just like he always does. Mainga with his uncanny ability of bowling Yorkers is going to test Indian batsmen while Kulsakera’s nagging accurate pitching can give tough time to them.

However, if Munaf is retained for tomorrow’s game, he can prove imperative as fourth bowler. Inclusion of R.Ashwin in place of out of form Jadeja can add another dimension to bowling. While, Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera provide Sangakkara with plenty of options to use in middle overs.

On the whole, Sri Lanka looks more balanced to win the finale.