India take on hosts Sri Lanka in the fourth T20I of Nidahas Trophy 2018 at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo Monday, March 12.
The second round of the ongoing tri-nation series effectively begins Monday with all three teams -- India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka tied on two points after having played two matches each.
Favorites India will be hoping to avenge their tournament-opening loss to Sri Lanka, who are sitting a spot above Rohit Sharma's men on the points table due to their superior Net Run Rate.
The Men in Blue were blown away by the hosts in the first match March 6 despite posting 174 on the board. Pacers Shardul Thakur and Jaydev Unadkat were taken to the cleaners by Kusal Perera, who hit a match-winning 66.
However, Asian giants, who are in Sri Lanka without big names of the likes of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni, bounced back and crushed Bangladesh by six wickets in their second outing of the series Thursday, March 8.
Shikhar Dhawan's form major boost for Team India
India will be happy with the way Shikhar Dhawan has gone about his business at the top of the order in the ongoing series. The left-handed opener had 145 runs from two-matches, which includes a match-winning 55 against Bangladesh.
Pacers Unadkat and Thakur came back strong with tidy spells while all-rounder Vijay Shankar won the Man of the Match award for his bowling figures of 32 for two.
India will be looking to carry forward the winning momentum and a win Monday will all but help them seal a place in the final, scheduled for March 8.
They might think about adding an extra spinner in the playing XI to complement Yuzvendra Chahal as the R Premadasa Stadium wicket is expected to get slower as the tournament progresses.
Sri Lanka vs India Live stream and TV schedule
- India: TV - DSport, DD National; Live stream - Watch DSport, DSport on Jio TV
- Sri Lanka: SLRC (Channel Eye); Live stream - Channel Eye
- Bangladesh: TV - GTV
- UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand: Live stream - Yupp TV
On the other hand, Sri Lanka head into the match on the back of a five-wicket defeat in a high-scoring thriller against Bangladesh on Saturday, March 10. Despite posting a mammoth total of 214 on the board, Dinesh Chandimal's side suffered a loss owing to lackluster bowling performance.
The hosts have suffered a huge blow as skipper Chandimal has been handed a two-match ban over slow over-rate in their game against Bangladesh. The onus is on stand-in skipper Thisara Perera to help the team recover and test the in-form Indian unit.
Thisara Perera have been appointed to captain the Sri Lanka team in the next two games in the ongoing #HeroNidahasTrophy, following the ICC’s decision to suspend Captain Dinesh Chandimal for two games for an over-rate offence.
— Sri Lanka Cricket (@OfficialSLC) March 11, 2018
When is the match and how to watch it live
The fourth match between Sri Lanka and India will start at 7pm IST, 7pm local and 1:30pm GMT.
Squads
Sri Lanka: Thisara Perera (c), Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Suranga Lakmal, Isuru Udana, Akila Dananjaya, Amila Aponso, Nuwan Pradeep, Dushmantha Chameera, Dhananjaya de Silva.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammed Siraj, Rishabh Pant.
