India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test, Day 2 Updates
Two days of cricket have gone by in this first test match between India and Sri Lanka and only 32.5 overs have been bowled in all, thanks to some incessant downpour. The second day witnessed just 21 overs from Sri Lanka before play had to be called off due to persistent showers. The hosts have been rattled by the Sri Lankan pacers on a green pitch and they are in a lot of trouble with the scorecard reading 74/5. The visitors are in a commanding position at the moment, but now with three more days to go and over three innings remaining, the match seems to be leaning more toward a draw. If there are going to be any further rain interruptions (which is very much likely), there may not be a result at the end of Day 5.
Who Will Win India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test?
India will look to continue their dominance at home when they take on Sri Lanka in the three-match test series. The 1st test gets underway from November 16 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Live telecast is scheduled to begin at 9:30 AM local time each day of the match.
Ind vs SL 1st Test: Where to Watch/Live Streaming
TV channels: Star Sports, Fox Sports, Sky Sports Cricket
Live Streaming: Hotstar, Bet365, Sky Go
Toss Prediction
The surface at the Eden Gardens has generally been good enough for batting and since the pitch is expected to favor the bowlers more during the final two days of the game, the toss-winning team is more likely to bat first. India have won the toss three times in their last four tests here and so we predict them to win the toss in this match.
Read on for team analysis, betting odds, betting tips and match prediction for Ind vs SL 1st Test....
India Team News & Playing 11
Team News
With Murali Vijay back in the side, India are faced with an opening-slot dilemma as Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul are two other strong contenders for that position. It will be interesting to see which two of the three get the selectors' nod in the end. Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin are back from their long break to bolster the spin department.
Key Players
Shikhar Dhawan is in good form and he will be a key component in this batting lineup. The opening batsman was adjudged 'Man of the Series' during India's recent visit to Sri Lanka where he scored 358 runs in three tests. Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli will also be big threats for the visitors. With the wicket likely to suit the seamers more, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami will be the ones to watch out for when it comes to bowling.
Recent Form
Out of the eight test matches India have played this year, they have won six, drawn one and lost one. Their most recent test action came earlier this year in July against Sri Lanka. It was a three-match series which they ended up winning 3-0.
India Predicted Playing 11
-
Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay/KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami
Sri Lanka Team News & Playing 11
Team News
Sri Lanka's former skipper and ace allrounder Angelo Mathews is now fully fit which has probably come as the biggest relief for the team. The selectors have picked allrounders Dhananjaya de Silva and Dasun Shanaka in the test squad while dropping out batsmen Kaushal Silva and Kusal Mendis owing to below-par performances of late.
Key Players
Angelo Mathews has scored the most runs for Sri Lanka in tests from this squad. He is currently the most experienced batsman in the side and the team will be relying heavily on him. Dimuth Karunaratne and DInesh Chandimal have also been impressive in this format and so there will be huge expectations on them as well. If there is one bowler in the side that the Lankans will depend on the most, it has to be none other than the veteran spinner Rangana Herath. Suranga Lakmal will lead the pace attack and he will look to land a few early blows on the hosts.
Recent Form
Sri Lanka have won four and lost six out of the ten test matches they have played since the start of 2017. After being hammered back at home in the test series against India, they did well to regain some of their lost confidence by beating Pakistan 2-0 recently in the UAE.
Sri Lanka Predicted Playing 11
-
Dinesh Chandimal (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Gamage, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Thirimanne
Team Form in Last Five Matches (most recent first)
India: W W W W D
Sri Lanka: W W L L L
India vs Sri Lanka Head to Head
India and Sri Lanka will be going head-to-head for the first time at the Eden Gardens in test cricket. Overall, the two nations have faced each other in 41 matches in this format. While the hosts have won 19 of those, the visitors have won only 7 with the remaining 15 having resulted in stalemates.
India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test Betting Odds
India begin as clear favorites amongst the bookmakers to win the first test match at a very short price of 1.61 on 1xbet and even shorter at 1.44 on Bet365. No surprises here as India have been in prime form at home and they had demolished Sri Lanka in every format not too long ago on the latter's home turf. The tourists got the better of Pakistan in the UAE in their previous test series and this will light a spark of hope in the side. However, they start off as huge underdogs at odds of 18.5 on Betfair and 13 on Bet365. A drawn game is up at 3 and 3.25 with the respective bookmakers.
India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test Prediction
Sri Lanka of today are not as threatening a side as they used to be back in the 90's. After the retirement of legends like Jayawardene, Sangakkara and Muralitharan, they have been undergoing a phase of transition and have really struggled to win matches across all formats of the game. Though the test series victory over Pakistan might fuel some optimism in their camp, they know that beating India in their own den and that too in test cricket is going to be a daunting task. Since there have been only two draws in the last 14 tests at the Eden Gardens, a draw seems unlikely here and so is a Sri Lankan win. This means backing the hosts to win this match would be the safest option.
Nov 16, 2017
09:30 IST / 4:00 GMT
Eden Gardens - Kolkata, India
Leave Your Comment
We do our best to give you most accurate & useful match predictions and would love to hear from you. Let us know if we need to improve. Share your own predictions for the matches. Let's talk: