Eager to leave their Champions Trophy eliminations behind, hosts West Indies and Sri Lanka will square off on Friday in the opening match of the ODI tri-series, which also features in-form India. West Indies were eliminated in the group stage of Champions trophy after they lost to South Africa via Duckworth Lewis method while tSri Lanka were humbled in the semifinal by eventual champions India.
The teams have come into the tournament with almost the same set of players. While the hosts have left out Ramnaresh Sarwan and Jason Holder, Sri Lanka were forced to leave out injured opener Tillakaratne Dilshan. Wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin has re-joined the West Indies after serving his ban for wrongly claiming a catch against Pakistan in Champions trophy.
The Lankans have not played much in this part of the world. The last time they competed here was in the 2007 World Cup but the conditions may support their spin-oriented attack, which also has Ajantha Mendis, who of late has been labelled a Twenty20 specialist.
Like Champions Trophy, weather is a matter of concern here too and if rain gods allow a full game, it will be an interesting contest between the West Indies batsmen and Sri Lanka bowlers. The spin trio of Ajantha Mendis, Sachithra Senanayake and Rangana Herath will pose a threat to the Caribbeans, who would rely on good starts by the flamboyant Chris Gayle.
The Lankan batting will once again revolve around the ever-reliable senior duo of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. The Caribbean line-up, led by Dwayne Bravo, is full of potent match-winning all-rounders while the home conditions would give them extra confidence and motivation to do well.
West Indies head coach Ottis Gibson said they were ‘gutted’ with what happened in England but reposed full faith in his players.
‘It’s to put those silly little mistakes that we made in England, sort of put them away. We felt we had a good opportunity to win that tournament and we want to win this one and prove ourselves right,’ he said ahead of the clash, adding: ‘The players are taking more responsibility and are starting to believe a lot more in their ability to do well as a team.’