Cricket World Cup Preview – 10.30 am
This is a big game for India because it will give them a chance at topping the table. A win in this fixture moves India top which means that Australia will have to win their final game against South Africa later in the day to win the round robin stage. This jostling for position at the top will decide the semi-final fixtures.
Sri Lanka v India Odds*
India 1/8
Sri Lanka 5/1
* (betting odds taken from Betfair on July 5th, 2019 at 8:55 pm)
Can India beat Sri Lanka?
India is such a strong side and they have so much to play for in this one. They start the final day of group stage action at the World Cup one point behind leaders Australia. So two points out of this fixture will move them to the top. It will be down to Australia then to wrestle it back from them. Whoever finishes top will face New Zealand in the semifinals, while the second place finishers will meet host nation England.
India have won six of their seven completed matches at the tournament. Their one defeat happened against England, in a match that the hosts had to win to keep their top four hopes alive and kicking. India responded immediately with a win over Bangladesh to keep up the pressure on Australia at the top of the table. Rohit Sharma is the second highest scorer with the bat at this tournament and is at 9/4 to be India’s top batsman* (betting odds taken from Betfair on July 5th, 2019 at 8:55 pm)
India v Sri Lanka head to head
The last time that India and Sri Lanka met was back in 2017 when they had two ODI series played. Of those nine matches, Sri Lanka won two and lost seven. Looking back over the last decade there have been 47 ODI matches between the two nations. India are W31 D1 L14 in that sequence.
Can Sri Lanka pull off an upset against India?
Sri Lanka never really looking like getting to the top four at any point. Their biggest moment in the tournament came when they beat England on June 21st. That was a tremendous success by them at Headingley, taking full advantage of the pitch against the hosts. That is one of three wins that Sri Lanka have produced at the tournament so far, the others coming against Afghanistan and then against the West Indies. They have nothing to play for at the moment and have lacked consistency throughout.
Predictions
Against an India side who will be hungry for a win, this looks like a bit of a fruitless task ahead for Sri Lanka. India are such a good side all around that you would expect them to stamp their authority all over this match. India to win by 8 wickets or 71-80 runs* (betting odds taken from Betfair on July 5th, 2019 at 8:55 pm)
