India v Sri Lanka 1st ODI Prediction

Sri Lanka will play five One Day International series against India to fill the vacuum created by the West Indian Team who flew back home without completing their tour. The Men in Blue have an upper hand against the Lankan Lions by winning 78 games out of 144, the latter was successful 54 times, 11 ended without any result and one was tied. The hosts defeated the Windies 2-1 in the recently concluded ODI series whereas the Islanders grabbed the previous three match series against Pakistan 2-1. MS Dhoni has pulled himself out from the first three games since he wanted to take some rest prior to the tour of Australia. The forthcoming series will be a thrilling one since both sides are capable of exhibiting high class cricket.

Players to watch

The most successful bowler of the home side in the recent time, Mohammed Shami, got injured and will be out of the series while Bhuvneshwar has been rested. Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane scored quite a few runs in the last series vs. West Indies. Murali Vijay and Ambati Rayudu are capable batsmen while their bowling will be looked after by Ishant Sharma, Varun Aaron, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhawal Kulkarni and Umesh Yadav.

Lahiru Thirimanne has not been included in the first three ODIs whereas Dinesh Chandimal, Lasith Malinga and Rangana Herath were not considered due to different reasons. Angelo Mathews and Mahela Jayawardene were among runs vs. Pakistan while Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga are solid batsmen. Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suraj Randiv and Dhammika Prasad form a reasonable bowling line up.

Time & Venue

Sunday, November 2, 2014 @ 09:00 GMT, 14:30 local at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack. The venue was established in 1958 with a seating capacity of 45,000 and can accommodate night cricket. India played last ODI in Cuttack on November 29, 2011, against West Indies and won it by one wicket.

Weather

An ideal day for cricket with the temperatures around 20-32ᵒC.

Toss

The Blue Shirts have mostly opted to field first after winning the toss on this particular ground.

The Pitch

The wicket is equally good for batting and bowling and the score is limited within 250 runs mark most of the times. The hosts have played 15 games at Barabati Stadium and have won 10 so it is a happy hunting ground for them while both teams have appeared twice and clinched one match each.

Teams

India - Virat Kohli (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhawal Kulkarni, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Murali Vijay, Varun Aaron, Akshar Patel.

Sri Lanka - Angelo Mathews (C), Kusal Perera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Ashan Priyanjan, Niroshan Dickwella, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dhammika Prasad, Lahiru Gamage, Chaturanga de Silva, Seekuge Prasanna, Suraj Randiv.

Prediction

Team India will be the most likely winners in the opening encounter.