SSC stats

[Gollum]

Firstly weather forecast isn't that great. :(( http://www.accuweather.com/en/lk/colombo/311399/daily-weather-forecast/311399?day=6 Anyways the more pressing matter is the pitch. SSC has been the flattest road in Lanka, especially for the last 5 or 6 years. Also it has been the Lankan fortress, they have won maximum number of tests here, 18 !!!! and tied with Premadasa for best W/L ration of 3.00. Premadasa has hosted only 8 tests while SSC has hosted 38 tests(another Lankan record). Safe to say we face an uphill task.

Lanka have lost total 6 matches there http://stats.espncricinfo.com/India/engine/records/team/match_results.html?class=1;id=679;type=ground 1992 Australia 1993 India 1993 RSA 2000 Pakistan 2001 England 2004 Australia They are unbeaten there since 2004 :hatsoff: Their record since that defeat to Australia reads P: 14, W: 7, D: 7, L: 0 From the link you can see that after 2009 they have played 5 matches there, winning once(against Pak last year) and drawing the remaining 4. They also played us here in 2010 in one of the flattest highways ever http://www.espncricinfo.com/India/engine/match/456670.html The scorecard read Lanka 642/4 dec India 707 a,o Lanka 129/3 There were 5 centurions( and a 99 ,Sehwag :(() that match including double tons by Sanga and Sachin with even the hack Raina getting a 120.:giggle: And did I forget to add there were 5 50s as well. Against India in SSC they have played 7, won 2 and lost 1. All 3 margins were heavy. In 93 we won by 235 runs and in 2001 and 2008 they inflicted crushing innings defeats upon us. http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/team/8.html?class=1;ground=679;home_or_away=1;opposition=6;template=results;type=team;view=innings http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63616.html http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63945.html http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/343729.html Some other records

No Mahela and Sanga here but Angelo averages 100+ here.

Herath averaging 27.48,2nd worst for him in Lanka after Kandy(where he played a solitary match way back in 2005). So must be said this is his worst venue in Lanka.

What do you guys think? What sort of deck can we expect in 72 hours time? I think we have to play 5 bowlers here if we want to force a result. Will Binny be effective here? What should be our XI?

[Vijy]

Firstly weather forecast isn't that great. :(( http://www.accuweather.com/en/lk/colombo/311399/daily-weather-forecast/311399?day=6 Anyways the more pressing matter is the pitch. SSC has been the flattest road in Lanka, especially for the last 5 or 6 years. Also it has been the Lankan fortress, they have won maximum number of tests here, 18 !!!! and tied with Premadasa for best W/L ration of 3.00. Premadasa has hosted only 8 tests while SSC has hosted 38 tests(another Lankan record). Safe to say we face an uphill task.

Lanka have lost total 6 matches there http://stats.espncricinfo.com/India/engine/records/team/match_results.html?class=1;id=679;type=ground 1992 Australia 1993 India 1993 RSA 2000 Pakistan 2001 England 2004 Australia They are unbeaten there since 2004 :hatsoff: Their record since that defeat to Australia reads P: 14, W: 7, D: 7, L: 0 From the link you can see that after 2009 they have played 5 matches there, winning once(against Pak this year) and drawing the remaining 4. They also played us here in 2010 in one of the flattest highways ever http://www.espncricinfo.com/India/engine/match/456670.html The scorecard read Lanka 642/4 dec India 707 a,o Lanka 129/3 There were 5 centurions( and a 99 ,Sehwag :(() that match including double tons by Sanga and Sachin with even the hack Raina getting a 120.:giggle: And did I forget to add there were 5 50s as well. Against India in SSC they have played 7, won 2 and lost 1. All 3 margins were heavy. In 93 we won by 235 runs and in 2001 and 2008 they inflicted crushing innings defeats upon us. http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/team/8.html?class=1;ground=679;home_or_away=1;opposition=6;template=results;type=team;view=innings http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63616.html http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63945.html http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/343729.html Some other records

No Mahela and Sanga here but Angelo averages 100+ here.

Herath averaging 27.48,2nd worst for him in Lanka after Kandy(where he played a solitary match way back in 2005). So must be said this is his worst venue in Lanka.

What do you guys think? What sort of deck can we expect in 72 hours time? I think we have to play 5 bowlers here if we want to force a result. Will Binny be effective here? What should be our XI?

Playing 3 spinners would have been ideal if Pragyan Ojha was in the squad. Between Bhajji and Binny, latter is the better bowler, batsman and fielder in current form - so, no contest there.

[Vijy]

Since SSC will be a road, we might want to play 7 batsmen and then play for a draw. Matthews will be a big pain in the neck as always, but it's good that the SSC bashing trio of Sanga, Jaya and Dilshan are not around. Tendu is averaging a Bradmanesque 99.7 I see!