Sri Lanka will look to take a firm grip on third place in Pool A when they come up against Scotland in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in Hobart on Wednesday.
The Lankans are coming off a ripper of a contest against Australia, where they gave chasing a total of over 370 a real go, before falling just short. That effort came at a price, however, with Dinesh Chandimal, who nearly won them the game with a blitz of a half-century, picking up a hamstring injury which has subsequently ruled him out of the CWC.
Opener Kusal Perera has been called up as a replacement, and he is the fourth player that Sri Lanka have had to replace, with Dimuth Karunaratne, Jeevan Mendis and Dhammika Prasad already taking an early flight back home owing to injury. The future of Rangana Herath also remains in doubt, with the spinner injuring a finger on his bowling hand, leaving Sri Lanka to hunt for replacements left, right and centre.
Those injuries have not curbed Sri Lanka's enthusiasm in this World Cup, though, with the team winning three of their five matches, and looking on course for third spot in Pool A. They will move a point ahead of Bangladesh with a win, with the Tigers taking on New Zealand in their last match.
Much of Lanka's good form is owed to the incredible Kumar Sangakkara, who became the first batsman in history to score three consecutive World Cup hundreds when he reached the three-figure mark against Australia at the SCG last weekend.
As long as Sangakkara keeps batting the way he has, Sri Lanka will be a threat to any side, and they will look to finish their group on eight points with victory over Scotland at the Bellerive Oval.
For Scotland, who finish their campaign with a match against hosts Australia on Saturday, this match will be about just going out there and showcasing their talents and just giving the ICC some more food for thought when it comes to including more Associate nations for the 2019 World Cup.
With nothing to lose, Scotland will look to play free cricket and continue their hunt for their first ever World Cup win.
"We see two very big opportunities ahead of us, starting with Sri Lanka tomorrow," Scotland captain Preston Mommsen said on Tuesday. "We don't get the opportunity to play against Full Members very often, so to have two in the space of a few days is something very exciting for all of us.
"Results wise it's not been the most perfect World Cup for us, but we've got two great opportunities and that's the way we're looking at it.
"We had a definite goal of winning at least one game at this World Cup, something we've not yet been able to do. But, looking back at the first four games we've played some good cricket, some very good cricket at times. We know we've just not played that good cricket for long enough periods of time to close out games.
"We've been in a couple of winning positions and maybe through lack of experience playing on this stage, we've not been able to win those games. We look back and we're proud of the cricket we've played. But at the moment we're still excited about the opportunity the next two games presents."
Where to Watch Live
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The CWC game is scheduled for a 2.30 pm local time (9 am IST, 3.30 am GMT, 10 pm ET) start with live coverage in India on the Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 3. The match can also be watched via live streaming online on Starsports.com or Star Sports Live Pro.
Viewers in the UK can watch the match live on Sky Sports 2 and Sky Go. Audience in Sri Lanka catch all the action live on SLRC and Star Sports with the live stream option on Star Sports online.
Audience in the US can watch the game live on TV on ESPN, while the action can be live streamed on ESPN Cricket. Australia viewers can do so on Channel 9 and Fox Sports. The match can also be watched online on Foxtel and Cricket Australia Live, with the same going in New Zealand on Sky TV and Sky Go NZ.
