In-form Indian lads start favourites

The middle order comprising skipper Mohammad Kaif and all-rounders Yuvraj Singh and Reetender Sodhi, who also hit a fluent ton in the Super League encounter against Sri Lanka, has also come good with all scoring fluently in the league ties. The bowlers are also fired up with Dave, Venugopal, Ratra and Srivastava coming up with good performances throughout the tournament.

The Sri Lankans have not been that consistent –showing flashes of brilliance at times and putting up dismal performances at others.

Except opening batsman Ian Daniels, who looks in good nick, others have put up an erratic display. To add to their miseries, they had five run outs in their semi-final encounter against Pakistan.

However, the inconsistencies of the batsmen have been more than made up by their superb athleticism in the field and tight bowling spells.

With their spectacular victory against Pakistan in the semis still fresh in their minds and enjoying the home advantage, Sri Lankans will be eager to put the record straight in the final, a fact underlined by Indian coach Roger Binny.

“We are playing well at the moment. But you can never take chances. Our boys must perform well tomorrow. We cannot afford to be complacent,” Binny said. (PTI)

TEAMS

India: M Sharma, R Ricky, Md Kaif (capt), Y Singh, R Sodhi, N Patel, V Rao, A Ratra, M Tripathy, A Dave, S Srivastava.

Sri Lanka: M Gajanayake (capt), TKandambi, I Daniels, J Mubarak, M Pushpakumara, R Peiris, P Nissanka, K Lokuarachchi, K Weeraratne, A Ganegama, R Dhammika.

SA take the Plate
KANDY: Riding on opener G Smith’s half-ton (51) and some tight bowling by D Senekal (3-19), South Africa beat Bangladesh by 80 runs to win the plate championship of the under-19 cricket world cup here on Thursday.

Putting up a fine all-round display, South Africa made 213 all out in 49.4 overs and then dismissed Bangladesh for 133 in 48 overs at the Asigiriya Stadium here.

Brief Scores: SA 213 in 49.4 overs (G Smith 51, J Trott 41; BR Das 3-43, M Hossain 2-39) bt Bangladesh 133 in 48 overs (H Serkar 51; D Senekal 3-19, A Morkel 2-36) by 108 runs.