Fresh from a nine-wicket victory in the series opener, India will look to dominate a lacklusture Sri Lanka in the second One-Day International (ODI) at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium here on Thursday.
The visitors thrashed Sri Lanka in the first ODI thanks to left-arm spinner Axar Patel who returned figures of 3/34 to restrict the hosts to 216 runs which was comfortably chased down with the help of unbeaten knocks from opener Shikhar Dhawan (132 not out) and skipper Virat kohli (82 not out).
Sri Lanka will bank on their opening batsman Niroshan Dickwella who produced a half-century in the opening match of the five-match ODI series.
The hosts will also expect batsmen Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews to contribute in the middle-order. All three were off to good starts but failed to build match winning knock in the first ODI.
In the bowling department, the island nation will rely on experienced pacer Lasith Malinga, who played his 200th ODI in the last match, to produce early breakthroughs.
India will look to continue their form from the previous clash. In-form batsmen Dhawan and Kohli along with middle-order specialist Mahendra Singh Dhoni and all-rounder Hardik Pandya will look to outclass the hosts bowling which has not been up to the mark.
In the bowling department, pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah along with spinners Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal will look to trouble the Sri Lankan batting.
Squads:
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicket-keeper), Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kedar Jadhav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Lokesh Rahul, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur.
Sri Lanka: Upul Tharanga (captain), Lasith Malinga, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Niroshan Dickwella (wicket-keeper), Danushka Gunathilaka, Vishwa Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Wanidu Hasaranga, Lakshan Sandakan, Milinda Siriwardana, Dushmantha Chameera, Malinda Pushpakumara, Akila Dananjaya.
--IANS
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