After a frenetic 11-day period that saw 12 matches,
The excellent batting pitches have been a constant throughout the tournament, and the teams to survive have utilised these conditions better than others -
With both teams in such exceptional batting touch, the difference in the final could be a bowling spell or some inspiration in the field. Nine matches have already been played on the same square at the National Stadium, suggesting that spinners might have something to look forward to.
Form guide
(Last five completed ODIs; most recent first)
Sri Lanka LWWWW
Watch out for ...
Sanath Jayasuriya, who loves the big occasion, and he loves batting against
Gautam Gambhir. He has been consistency personified in ODIs this year, and his excellence against spin makes him a key batsman for
The battle of the openers: Gambhir and Sehwag have added 319 runs for the first wicket in four innings at an average partnership of 79.75 and a rate of 8.14 runs per over; Jayasuriya and Sangakkara have averaged 88.75 per partnership at seven runs per over. The new-ball bowlers from both teams clearly have their work cut out.
Murali v Yuvraj: Yuvraj has often struggled against slow bowlers at the start of his innings, and if he bats at No. 5, there's a good chance that he'll be confronted by Murali as soon as he comes in.
Team news
Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 3 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 4 Chamara Kapugedera, 5 Chamara Silva, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Chaminda Vaas, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Ajantha Mendis, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Dilhara Fernando.
India (probable) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Rohit Sharma, 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 Pragyan Ojhan, 10 RP Singh, 11 Ishant Sharma.
Umpires Simon Taufel & Tony Hill. Third umpire Zameer Haider
Stats and trivia
·
· Sanath Jayasuriya averages 51.54 at a strike rate of 100.17 in finals against
· Muttiah Muralitharan has an excellent economy rate of 4.03 in finals against
· India's top five (Gambhir, Sehwag, Raina, Dhoni and Yuvraj) all average more than fifty in the tournament, with Dhoni the only one with a strike rate - 97.88 - less than 100.
Quotes
"Mendis is a big-game player and he has the ability to play well in big matches and we will be counting on him in the final."
Mahela Jayawardene names his trump card for the final
"Our openers have given us good starts and if they continue to do so it would keep pressure off the middle order and set the foundation."
Mahendra Singh Dhoni looks forward to another strong start by Sehwag and Gambhir
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