Daijiworld Media Network

Cardiff, Jun 20 : Welcome one and all for the 2nd semi-final in the Champions Trophy between India and Sri Lanka. The weather was pretty poor at Cardiff in the morning but things have cleared up. The outfield is in very poor condition and the toss will be delayed. There will be an inspection at 10 AM local.

On the other hand, India have been flawless in all departments. Their batting has been awesome while their bowling and fielding have clicked. However, anything can happen in the knock-out stages and India will be hoping that there are no surprises in store.

Sri Lanka have been haunted by the Virat Kohli bogey for a long time now. His knocks at Hobart as well as during the bilateral series last year have cemented him as the Lankans chief tormentor. Can Sri Lanka get the better of this solid Indian batting line-up?
Remember, if there is no play possible today, then India will progress to the final as they topped the group.

Pitch report - There's a green tinge to the track. It looks a hard surface. It could help the spinners too reckon Tom Moody and Russell Arnold

10:05 am local time: The umpires are out in the middle for the inspection. The rain has relented for now. Lights have already been switched on. There are still grey clouds around. The umpires have had a look at the conditions on the square and it looks to be in fine condition. They will now have a look at the outfield. 

Match preview :

Having confidently made it to the last-four stage, India will be looking to put up yet another clinical performance in their semi-final match in Cardiff. However, MS Dhoni's side will encounter stiff competition from Sri Lanka, who have consistently entered finals of various major ICC events over the past few years.

India:

In this Champions Trophy: India started their campaign with a 26-run win against South Africa in a high-scoring encounter before easing past West Indies by 8 wickets with 10.5 overs to spare in their second match to qualify for the semis. Following that, they extended their unbeaten run with a comfortable 8-wicket win with 2.5 overs to spare in a rain-affected tie against arch-rivals Pakistan.

Team form: The Indian team have by far been the most consistent team in this Champions Trophy. Not only have they won all their matches - 2 warm-up matches and 3 league games - but the manner in which they have overcome their opponents makes them the team to beat in this edition of the tournament. While India's batting has been their strong suit for quite some time now, the reason for their continued success in this edition of the Champions Trophy has much to do with their fielding, which has been top-notch and bowling, which has been tight and disciplined more often than not.

Strong performances from openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have more than made up for the absence of big names such as Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir at the top of the order. Dhawan has been in the form of his life, smashing back-to-back centuries before helping himself to a quick-fire 48 against Pakistan. The mercurial Rohit, too, looks like he is finally making his presence felt in the international arena with a degree of consistency - he has scored consecutive fifties in the sub-continent side's first two matches.

Dhawan and Sharma apart, Dinesh Karthik has played a couple of useful knocks, following his successive hundreds in the warm-up matches, and been there at the end in two out of three games India has won. While Dhoni will be happy with the form of these three batters, he will want Virat Kohli to get amongst the runs soon - the number three batsman is yet to make a fifty in the tournament. The Indian middle order, which comprises Suresh Raina, Dhoni, and Ravindra Jadeja, has been given the opportunity to bat only once in this edition of the tournament; the team will hope these three are up to the task if and when they are called on to bail out the team.

Jadeja, apart from contributing with his fielding skills in all games and a crucial, quickfire knock of 47 runs in the match against South Africa, has been India's top wicket-taker. The left-arm spinner, who has been in tremendous form, is the only one with a five-wicket haul in the tournament so far and is just two wickets shy of Mitchell McClenaghan (11 wickets), who has the most scalps. While Jadeja has been India's most effective bowler, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ravichandran Ashwin have also done reasonably well. However, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav have not been as potent, which is the only source of worry as far as India are concerned.

Player-watch:

Virat Kohli has got starts in all the three matches that India have played, but has failed to convert them into big scores. The one-drop batsman will be keen to make amends and he couldn't have asked for a better opponent to do it against than Sri Lanka - Kohli has 1386 runs against them in ODIs at an average of over 55 with 7 fifties and five hundreds.

Team News: India do not have any injury concerns at the present time and are unlikely to tinker with their winning combination.

Likely XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav.

Sri Lanka:

In this Champions Trophy: After losing a low-scoring thriller against New Zealand by a wicket in their opening game, Sri Lanka bounced back with a commanding seven-wicket victory against hosts England. In their third match, they survived some anxious moments to overcome Australia by 20 runs and make it to the knock-out stage.

Team form: Sri Lanka did not get off to the kind of start they would have hoped for, suffering an agonizing one-wicket loss at the hands of the Black Caps, despite a spirited bowling performance. The loss might have acted as a catalyst, for Sri Lanka re-grouped quickly to register back-to-back wins.

Sri Lanka's batting has revolved around the experienced trio of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, and Tillakaratne Dilshan. The wicket-keeper batsman proved his worth, scoring a defiant 68 against New Zealand before producing a match-winning 134 against England. Mahela also showed why he is considered a key batsman in the Lankan set-up with a classy 84 against Australia. Dilshan, too, has had a few useful outings, despite not being able to make a truly big contribution thus far.

Sri Lanka will also be happy with the middle-order after the likes of Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal spent some quality time in their last game against Australia, with Thirimanne scoring a fine half-century. The concern for Sri Lanka is the form of Kusal Perera at the top of the order and skipper Angelo Mathews' returns with the bat and ball.

Coming to the bowlers, Lasith Malinga has been Sri Lanka's top-wicket taker in the tourney and Nuwan Kulasekara has provided him good support. What's more Kulasekara also contributed a match-winning knock with the bat against England. Rangana Herath and Dilshan have been adequate if not spectacular in the spin department. Sri Lanka's main worry is Shaminda Eranga, who has gone for over six runs per over in the tournament.

Player to watch:

Mahela Jayawardene has found form at the right time as far as Sri Lanka are be concerned. The experienced right-hander is known to produce big knocks in crucial games, and he will be eager to make his presence felt against India. Having scored over 2000 runs in 77 matches against the sub-continent rivals, Mahela will keen to add more to his runs tally against India.

Team News: Like India, Sri Lanka too do not have any injury problems to worry about and will, in all likelihood, not make any changes to the line-up that got them into the semi-final.

Likely XI: Kusal Perera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Lahiru Thirimanne, Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews (c), Dinesh Chandimal, Nuwan Kulasekara, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga, Shaminda Eranga.

Pitch and weather: A fresh new track has been laid by the Glamorgan ground staff at Sophia Gardens for the semi-final and chief curator Keith Exton reckons 280 should be a par score. As far as the weather is concerned, overcast conditions are expected, with rain showers also being predicted. In case of a wash-out, the topper of the Group stage will progress to the final, which will be India in this case.

Numbers game:

5: The number of centuries scored by Virat Kohli against Sri Lanka. The right-hander has scored 1386 runs against Sri Lanka at an average of 55.44 and has also hit 7 fifties. 33% of Kohli's ODI runs tally has come against the Lankans.

3: the number of catches Mahela Jayawardene needs to take to become the first to reach the mark of 200 in ODI cricket. The former Lankan skipper is 37 clear of Ricky Ponting, who is in second place.

0 and 0: The head-to-head stats between India and Sri Lanka in Champions Trophy. The only two occasions these two sides played each other - in 2002 - both games were washed out and India and Sri Lanka were declared joint-winners.

Teams:

India (From): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni(w/c), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Irfan Pathan, Murali Vijay, Amit Mishra, Vinay Kumar

Sri Lanka (From): Kushal Janith Perera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara(w), Mahela Jayawardene, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews(c), Lahiru Thirimanne, Rangana Herath, Shaminda Eranga, Lasith Malinga, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Sachithra Senanayake, Chanaka Welegedara