Lanka guarded after early shock

Electing to field first, India got the first breakthrough in the form of Tillakratne Dilshan's wicket as the Lanka opener was caught short of his crease in the Dambulla ODI.

It was an utter mess in the middle. Dilshan played a Zaheer Khan-delivery towards square leg and rushed for a single but Sanath Jayasuriya was not keen and sent his partner back from halfway. Meanwhile Yusuf Pathan collected the ball and knocked the stumps to see Dilshan tread back without scoring.

However, India too are without their regular opener Virender Sehwag who is out with an injury. His absence gives Rohit Sharma a place in the playing XI. India have gone with three seamers and a spinner Pragyan Ojha.

Both the teams back themselves with series victories. While India had a 5-0 win against England, the Islanders have come off a well earned 2-1 ODI series win against Pakistan.

The two teams have played seven ODIs against each other in the last six months and India clearly dominated the contest. While Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup in Pakistan, India won the bilateral ODI series in Sri Lanka. Dhoni's boys would want to carry on the momentum. Lankans, on the other hand, are eyeing revenge and salvage some pride.

This series holds special importance for Muttiah Muralitharan as the off-spinner is just three wickets short of surpassing former Pakistani paceman Wasim Akram's world record of 502 one-day scalps.

India: MS Dhoni (Captain), Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Munaf Patel, Yusuf Pathan.

Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (Captain), Tillakratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Chamara Kapugedera, Sanath Jayasuriya, Farveez Maharoof, Thilana Kandamby, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis.