Following a 2-0 victory in the test series, India suffered a setback in the first twenty20 international against Sri Lanka. The visiting side comfortably defeated India by 29 runs, and thus, making the second twenty20 a must-win game for India. After some poor performance in the test series, Sri Lanka needed a victory like this to boost up their confidence level and they did it quite comfortably. In all three departments, Sri Lanka was on top in Wednesday’s twenty20 match at Nagpur.
India has just climbed to the no. 1 position in test ranking, but they did not look like a no. 1 team in the first twenty20 international. I know India is without their two best bowlers Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, but still a no. 1 team must have much more squad strength that India showed in the first game. Zaheer and Harbhajan could have missed the T20 series through injury too. Moreover, Indian middle order also looked very shaky and they failed to capitalize on the good start given by the two openers Gambhir and Sehwag. More frustrating was their fielding as they dropped four catches and missed a run out chances. That means Indian fielders lost at least one wicket-taking chance in every 4 overs in the game. I do not think that this should be the characteristics of a no. 1 team.
Anyway, the second match is coming up and India must show their characters if they really want to save the series. The second match would be another chance for team India to show that they have the quality and talent to become the no. 1 team. On the other hand, Sri Lanka, who was devastated after the test series, has now found some ground and they look determined to win the series in an effort to salvage some pride ahead of the ODI series. So, Sri Lanka would also go all out in the match to win the series. As a result, you can expect a highly entertaining second twenty20 match. Now, here I am giving you the information regarding time and venue of the second twenty20 international:
Time and Venue
The second twenty20 international of the series would take place at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh. Mohali is one of the best cricket grounds in India. Initially, unlike many other Indian wickets, Mohali wickets were not dead pitches; rather they produced results, but the condition has been changed later on. Now-a-days, teams produce big totals on this ground and it helped the batsmen a lot.
Date: 12 December 2009
Venue: Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Time: 17:30 local time; GMT 12:00;
However, as the match starts at 17:30 local time (GMT 12:00), it means dew factor could come into effect as frost generally happens in December and January in Mohali. From this point of view, it seems that pacers could get some assistance in the second innings, while spinners in the second innings could face some gripping problems. Overall, I think, it would not be a very high-scoring game and 160-170 would be fighting total.
