India, Sri Lanka to settle score

JOHANNESBURG: India and Sri Lanka head into today’s World Cup Super Six game at The Wanderers with an unsettled score to resolve and semi-final qualification at stake.

India’s jittery win over Kenya in Cape Town on Friday has put them in position to qualify for the last four while Sri Lanka know they need a quick recovery from their demoralising defeat against Australia. The last time the two sides met they could not be separated. The final of the Champions Trophy in Colombo last September started twice but was abandoned both times due to rain before the title was shared.  The teams will thus go into the game with something to prove to each other, but India captain Sourav Ganguly says the Colombo wash-out will not be uppermost in his players’ minds. “That is in the past,” Ganguly said after defeating Kenya. “The World Cup is a much bigger stage. We are almost in the semi-finals.” An Indian victory today will guarantee them that. Defeat for Sri Lanka, meanwhile, will leave them precariously placed. To qualify, they would have to beat Zimbabwe in their final Super Six match in East London and hope Kenya are unable to find a win — or indeed two points from a washed-out game — in their next two games.  

Teams:  INDIA (possible) -  Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Saurav Ganguly (capt), Mohammad Kaif, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Javagal Srinath, Ashish Nehra.
SRI LANKA (possible) - Sanath Jayasuriya (capt), Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Aravinda De Silva, Russel Arnold, Hashan Tillakaratne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando, Pulasthi Gunaratne.