Defeat for Sri Lanka will put favourites out

Sri Lanka have to win Thursday's game against Pakistan to stay in the Asia Cup. A team that started as the favourites are now in a situation where defeat will put them out of the tournament. They have had their share of injuries, including Lasith Malinga and Angelo Mathews, which definitely handicapped them to a great extent against India. They will be hoping Malinga is fit for today's game while Mathews has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament. India will be thankful not just to centurions Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli but also to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who realised he needed to go up the order and hit some lusty blows. It was his partnership with Suresh Raina that got India past the 300 mark and gave their bowlers that additional cushion. Dhoni then used his part-time bowlers cleverly and, with India's fielding also good, the easy runs were simply not there and that added to the pressure on the Sri Lankans, who despite some good overs were always battling against the asking rate. High-quality pitch The pitch at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium is of the highest quality, with the ball coming on to the bat nicely and a fast outfield to boot, so teams are aware that they need to get near 300 if they are to put pressure on the opposition. With both teams having previously chosen to field first and lost games, the skippers may well have a different approach from now on. The dew factor is not as influential as anticipated and so bowling second is not as much as a handicap as was originally thought. The win percentage is still higher overall at this ground for teams chasing, but the trend at the moment is different. Sri Lanka were obviously thinking of their last game against the Indians in Australia, when India chased down 320 in only 36 overs, and so opted to field first. But I am pretty certain that the tactics will be different against Pakistan. Pakistan are a team that feel the pressure while chasing a target, but they have the bowlers to stop a chase and will prefer to bat first. Their skipper is on notice for a slow over-rate. Another transgression and he could be banned for a game, and since their match after Sri Lanka is against arch-rivals India, there is no doubt he and his team will hurry up between overs Thursday. Going by form, the Sri Lankans should begin as favourites, but when Pakistan are on song there are not many teams that can stop them.