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The Indian players are stars in their respective IPL teams but their results have been ordinary when playing together as an international side: in nine Twenty20 internationals since 2008, they have lost six and won three. The first victory was a remarkable come-from-behind effort inspired by the Pathan brothers in Sri Lanka, the other two were against Bangladesh and Ireland during a woeful World Twenty20 campaign in England this year.

The two significant problems India had in England, however, will be missing from these two games. Virender Sehwag, who had an injured shoulder during the World Twenty20, is back and in frightening form, and the other batsmen’s weaknesses against the rising delivery are unlikely to be exposed on the flat and true pitches in India.

Gary Kirsten, the India coach, had said after they were eliminated from the World Twenty20 that there were holes in the Twenty20 set-up and teams had worked out strategies to effectively negate India’s strengths. The next World Twenty20 is in May 2010 and the opportunities to formulate, fine-tune and effect plans are limited.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, had a terrific World Twenty20 and were unbeaten until the final, which they lost to Pakistan. They were the tournament’s most vibrant team: the evergreen Sanath Jayasuriya and Tillakaratne Dilshan’s daring improvisations gave them fast starts, while the combination of Murali, Mendis and Malinga was simply too much for most opponents to handle. Since then, however, Sri Lanka have lost three matches on the trot – one to Pakistan and two to New Zealand, that too at home.

Their Test bowlers were battered by the Indian batsmen and Sri Lanka will welcome the addition of Lasith Malinga’s pace and yorker-bowling skills to their attack. Jayasuriya will join Dilshan to form a destructive, match-winning opening combination. The question, though, is whether Ajantha Mendis will be able to exercise any control over a batting line-up that treated him with disdain over the last month.

1st T20I (Twenty Twenty) International cricket match between India vs Sri Lanka (Ind vs SL) is scheduled on 9th November at Nagpur from Start time 5:30pm (12.30GMT). You can watch high quality live cricket match online tv streaming at Live Cricket Match and Hasan Online Sports.. Please allow 1/2 minutes to download the streaming and press Play to start the video. If the video is not playing, please refresh the page and start downloading the video again.

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And now, with respect to an Australian side that may be the reigning Champions Trophy champions but are still in an undeniable rebuilding phase, England prepare to face a team that really knows how to play one-day cricket. Sri Lanka simply hammered the much-fancied tournament hosts, South Africa, in the opening match on Tuesday. Tillakaratne Dilshan’s majestic hundred put the match out of reach, as the wiles of Ajantha Mendis proved too canny to allow a 300-plus target to be pursued with any confidence – even for a team stacked with the sort of power-players that England can only dream of.

In the absence of Kevin Pietersen (who has scored two of England’s three ODI hundreds since January 2008 – a tally that even Scotland has surpassed) and latterly Andrew Flintoff and even Luke Wright, England lack batsmen who can break the shackles, and raise the tempo. Strauss has been batting like a dream all summer, but even at his most imperious, he is still a man for whom an 80.00 strike-rate is a pacey tempo – hence his unfortunate habit during the Australia ODIs of getting out when well set, usually while attempting a reverse-sweep or similar, shots that his colleagues ought to have been producing while he continued to anchor the innings.

Strange results are possible in 50-over cricket – let’s not forget, when England were last humiliated by Australia in a one-day campaign, in Australia in 2006-07, they somehow emerged with the CB Series trophy in their luggage, after Paul Collingwood stitched together back-to-back victories in the finals. But they’ve never yet won an ICC global event, and they’ve rarely looked less ready to break that habit. The rarefied atmosphere of the Highveld is no place for weary cricketers.

ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between Sri Lanka vs England (SL vs Eng) in ICC Champions Trophy is scheduled at Johannesburg from 14:30 local time (12:30 GMT). Watch free high quality online tv streaming on Live Cricket Match and Hasan Online Sports. Please allow 1/2 minutes to download the streaming and press Play to start the video. If the video is not playing, please refresh the page and start downloading the video again.

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It helps that South Africa has been the setting for memorable starts to world events. In the first match of the 2003 World Cup, Brian Lara’s century helped West Indies beat South Africa by three runs in a tense finish. Four years later the ICC went to South Africa unsure if the World Twenty20 would be accepted by the audience. The same two teams, in 37.4 overs, hit all such trepidations out of the Wanderers. The possibility of an exact repeat has been ruled out by the draw, which pits Sri Lanka opening the tournament against the hosts, but a similar start is needed.

Both players in the act on Tuesday run the risk of becoming perennial best men: both have been consistent limited-overs teams for large parts of last 15 years, but only two players in each team have tasted success in an ICC event (excluding the 2002 Champions Trophy, which they shared with India): Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan won the 1996 World Cup, and Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis won the inaugural Champions Trophy in 1998.

Since then South Africa have lost two World Cup semi-finals, one World Twenty20 semi-final, and three Champions Trophy semi-finals. Sri Lanka haven’t been that consistent, but they too have lost a World Cup final and semi-final each, a World Twenty20 final, and shared a Champions Trophy final.

Not much has changed on that front: this is another best chance for South Africa to shrug off the chokers’ tag, and although Sri Lanka are not starting off as favourites it would be folly to underestimate them. So let the nearly men kick the nearly tournament off.

1st ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between South Africa vs Sri Lanka (SA vs SL) in ICC Champions Trophy is scheduled at Centurion from 14:30 local time (12:30 GMT). Watch free high quality online tv streaming on Live Cricket Match and Hasan Online Sports. Please allow 1/2 minutes to download the streaming and press Play to start the video. If the video is not playing, please refresh the page and start downloading the video again.

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While Kumar Sangakkara said a decision on Muttiah Muraliatharan’s availability would be taken on Sunday evening, the bowler is fit and Sri Lanka should be fielding their strongest side – Thilan Samaraweera remains a doubt – and an Indian team missing the experience of three big-match players will have its work cut out to be competitive. Sri Lanka trounced India in the dress rehearsal on Saturday and again proved that once they have a score on the board at the Premadasa, they defend it resolutely.

Sri Lanka have all the weapons they need in two brisk new-ball operators, a vicious slinger, and two spinners with an assortment of tricks. Each of those bowlers is capable, more so under lights, of denying batsmen the space and time to score. The support cast is no less impressive, with the ever-improving Angelo Mathews and India would do well to be wary of Sanath Jayasuriya, who sorted out a couple of New Zealand batsmen with his variations last week. On Monday, India could face the world’s most potent spin attack, with Murali and Ajantha Mendis possibly back in tandem. There will be a few flashes of the Asia Cup final last year.

India’s concern is the batting, particularly at the top. Dinesh Karthik may have just played his way out of the XI, despite MS Dhoni having twice spoken of how wary he is to stick young Virat Kohli in as opener. Sachin Tendulkar has got starts on two occasions, but most worrying is the form of Yuvraj Singh, who has struggled to start against pace and spin. He scratched around dreadfully in both matches. India’s fielding was also rather shabby in the previous game.

India’s only real hope is to put up a big total and then pressure Sri Lanka’s batsmen into committing errors. Chasing against the likes of Murali, Mendis and Lasith Malinga is a difficult task at the best of times, and as India found out yesterday, the anaconda grip gets you eventually.

Final Cricket match between India vs Sri Lanka (IN vs SL) in Compaq Cup Cricket Tournament is scheduled on 14th September, 2009 at Columbo from 14:00 local time (9:00 GMT). Watch free high quality online tv streaming on Live Cricket Match and Hasan Online Sports. Please allow 1/2 minutes to download the streaming and press Play to start the video. If the video is not playing, please refresh the page and start downloading the video again. Make sure you have the following softwares / media players install in your computer:

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Sri Lanka, almost always formidable opponents on their own soil, do not start as favourites. New Zealand took plenty of confidence from two night wins at the Premadasa last week and they know their biggest shot at winning is getting into Sri Lanka’s top order. New Zealand have repeatedly highlighted the importance of dismissing Tillakaratne Dilshan early to put pressure on Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, leaving a shaky lower order sweating.

Successive middle-order muddles during the Twenty20s left Kumar Sangakkara ruing the lack of application and calling on the players to introspect going into this series. Sri Lanka will hope that Sanath Jayasuriya finds form at a venue in which he has scored 2373 runs at 38.27, but contributions from the likes of Angelo Mathews and Chamara Kapugedera will be equally important. Another worry for the home side is that Muttiah Muralitharan is in some doubt after not recovering entirely from a groin strain sustained on day five of the SSC Test, and both teams will keenly await news on his fitness tomorrow.

New Zealand did little wrong in the Twenty20s. Their response to Dilshan’s onslaught in game one was calm and their batting and bowling more than efficient during the series clincher. Their effective handling of Ajantha Mendis – who caused nightmares at Trent Bridge this summer – was another reason behind their victory over Sri Lanka.

1st One Day Cricket match between Sri Lanka vs New Zealand (SL vs NZ) in Compaq Cup Cricket Tournament is scheduled on 8th September, 2009 at Columbo from 14:00 local time (9:00 GMT). Watch free high quality online tv streaming on Live Cricket Match and Hasan Online Sports. Please allow 1/2 minutes to download the streaming and press Play to start the video. If the video is not playing, please refresh the page and start downloading the video again. Make sure you have the following softwares / media players install in your computer:

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Nishantha Ranatunga, secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), confirmed that the schedule was tweaked “long ago” following a BCCI request. “Both Sri Lanka and New Zealand had no objection,” Ranatunga said.

India will now play New Zealand on September 11, followed by a match against Sri Lanka the next day.

The BCCI refused to discuss the schedule but it does give Indian players an extra day’s gap after the Indian board’s new one-day corporate tournament ends on September 8. Almost all the players in the Indian squad for the Sri Lanka series will appear for their respective private employers in the Indian board event.

Source: India alter tri-series schedule for an extra day’s rest

As they sat for the team meeting in the morning, it was the first time that all the players had come together in close to seven weeks – Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Suresh Raina had been away for longer. The first day of the camp involved the meeting and a fitness assessment at the National Cricket Academy gym. Gary Kirsten, the India coach, had given the team impromptu fitness tests two weeks ago, and he liked what he saw today.

“Based on what we saw two weeks ago, there have been significant improvements from every player, which means they are taking it seriously,” Kirsten said. “That’s all we wanted. The players have realised that this is a part of the game that they all want to improve on, and the players have taken on that responsibility.”

The big question, though, is whether four days are enough for a team to get into the international mode and up their intensity for a packed season ahead. With the BCCI’s Corporate Cup lined up, Kirsten had no choice, because he didn’t want to eat into the break that the players had finally got, which he thought was essential.

“It was very important for us and the guys to have at least a six-week break,” Kirsten said. “It’s the longest break they have had for a long time. It was important that they were mentally fresh for that process.

“With a lot of cricket coming up, the Corporate Cup – and quite a few players playing in that – and then three games in Sri Lanka, then we have a longish period before we play our first game in Champions Trophy before the 26th. We feel, with that included, we have got quite a lot of preparation time.” Kirsten also said the time they would get in South Africa would be crucial for the preparations as well.

The ‘short’ word was not far away, but Kirsten said he wasn’t unduly worried about the troubles the young batsmen have had handling the short-pitched stuff recently. “I only saw the short-pitch ball being a problem in just one game in the T20 World Cup, so I don’t see that as a problem. We are playing the 50-over version now, which is very different from T20. But within, in terms of our gameplans, our training, our structures, we try and cover every base that we need to cover to make sure we give ourselves best chance of success. That might be one of it, but there might be a whole lot others.”

Over the next three days, they will get to working on the various skill sets – both in nets session and open-wicket practice at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The players can expect the coming days to be as intense as the camp they had around this time last year in Bangalore, or the five days they spent in New Zealand before their first match. Kirsten has a reputation for being an unobtrusive but tough taskmaster, and more of it seemed in store.

“We have put a big focus on our conditioning, because it is a nice break they have had,” he said. “It’s given them time to work on that side of their game. Equally, it’s time for us to start upping the intensity on our practising. We are going to be hitting a lot of balls over the next three-four days, the guys are going to be bowling a lot to get back on track.”

Source: Fitness improvements please Kirsten