Winner takes it all…or at least the semi-final berth!

India will play Sri Lanka in the penultimate game of the Super Eight stage of the ICC World T20 and it could not get more interesting. Sri Lanka would be thinking of how they shot themselves in their foot by collapsing to the total that they did against the Aussies, because that meant that the Indians are still alive in the tournament, and could well be kicking if they manage to beat Sri Lanka.

The two sides have met in three previous T20Is, and the Indians lead 2-1; all of which have been played on the slow and low tracks of the sub-continent. And both the sides have struggled in this tournament when the pitch has offered a bit of bounce, and so, both sides will welcome the St. Lucia track that should make them nostalgic about home!

India:
Horrendous and almost embarrassing. These are the two words that come to mind when one looks at their performance in the Super Eight stage, but then again, if one looks around, no other side but Australia and England have done too well. Pakistan qualified for the semi-finals with only one win, while South Africa and New Zealand crashed out with a solitary win as wel.

The Indians may want to change things around for the game, but at the other end would be the thought that the change in venue could mean that those very batsmen who were struggling earlier could suddenly make hay. Yet, one feels that Dinesh Karthik does deserve a chance and the one going out could be Murali Vijay, who has been a pale shadow of his ebullient self in the IPL.

The bowling could also change around, but the issue is that Vinay Kumar was not selected on a pace-oriented track in Barbados; why would he get a look-in at St. Lucia is beyond me. The only bowler who could be brought in is Piyush Chawla, but with the Sri Lankans being good players of spin, it remains to be seen how that goes.

Sri Lanka:
Sri Lanka’s batting has been near-appalling irrespective of the venue. Their top-order minus Mahela Jayawardene has batted like novices, and with the kind of form that Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya have shown in the tournament so far, it does look like they would do well to shuffle things around a little. The good news is that Dilshan looked to be on the verge of a breakthrough performance against Australia before he succumbed for the highest score of the innings.

The bowling has acquitted itself reasonably for Sri Lanka, but the injury and return of Muthiah Muralitharan is obviously an issue. Suraj Randiv did well in the Australia game, but Ajantha Mendis was thrashed around, and one gets the feeling that the Indians will look to pounce on him as soon as he gets to bowl.

In the end, it could boil down who goes into the game with more confidence and performs better in those big moments in the game. For India it is the 21-run (or more) victory margin that will count, for the Lankans, a plain win would do!

Game begins at 11.00 pm IST on Tuesday!