M A I N   N E W S

India keen to make amends

Johannesburg, March 9
After the wake-up call they got against Kenya, India will be keen to make amends in their second World Cup Super Six game against Sri Lanka tomorrow and grab a win which will assure them of a semifinal berth.

India have enjoyed a distinct edge over their subcontinental rivals in the recent matches, having defeated Sri Lanka in all the games in the NatWest triangular series in England last year and also dominated in the rain-abandoned finals of the Champions Trophy in Colombo.

The last time the two teams met in a World Cup, India, helped by centuries from Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly, had bludgeoned Sri Lanka by 157 runs. A victory in tomorrow’s game will assure a semifinal berth for India, who are placed second in the Super Six table with 12 points. For Sri Lanka, who received a 96-run drubbing at the hands of leaders Australia, it is a must-win situation for all practical purposes.

Sri Lanka’s prospects have been severely affected by the injury to their match-winning skipper Sanath Jayasuriya, who is a doubtful starter for tomorrow’s game.

Jayasuriya is still to recover fully from the blows he got from a Brett Lee delivery during their match on Friday which left him with a broken thumb and a heavily bruised forearm.

“His chances of playing tomorrow are 50-50,” said team manager Ajit Jayasekera.

“We will have to wait and see what happens. It is not as bad as we first thought,” Jayasekara said.

Jayasuriya himself was devastated at the way things have unfolded. “I would love to play against India but it all depends on my fitness,” he said.

“We know the game against India is vital. We have had some very good matches against them and I hope everything falls into its place for us tomorrow,” he said. PTI