West Indies tri-series 2013: Five reasons why India will win the final

After a miserable start to the tournament, the Indian team came together to put in two competent performances and now find themselves on top of the table and, more importantly, in the final.

They will be joined there by Sri Lanka, who make the cut in spite of their loss to India in the final group game. Their confidence would have taken a hit after their batting crumbled under testing conditions in the rain-interrupted match that saw India dismiss them for a meagre 96 runs. They have shared a game each now in this series and the final will decide who the better team was in the Caribbean.

India might receive a boost ahead of the final to be played on Thursday as MS Dhoni might be able to participate since he has recovered from the hamstring injury. He will provide the Indian middle-order the required solidity that it has been lacking in this series. The performance of the bowling attack augurs well for India’s hopes as, apart from a major lapse against Sri Lanka earlier in the tournament, they have been on the money.

Here is a list of five reasons why India are likely to defeat the Sri Lanka in the final to clinch yet another trophy:

5. Weakened opposition

Sri Lanka have some major issues to address before the final. Their top-order has been scoring runs, but the middle-order is virtually non-existent.

India’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar has mastered the art of getting early breakthroughs; and if he can do the same in the final, a lot of pressure will be created on the likes of Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Matthews and Lahiru Thirimanne.

Sri Lanka’s bowling has delivered in this tournament, but the contributions have come from unlikely sources. Angelo Matthews and Rangana Herath have picked up the bulk of the wickets, and have strangled the opposition in the middle overs. However, it is difficult to see them shackling a power-packed Indian batting line-up.