- MATCH ANALYSIS IN BRIEF
| Date | Thursday 2nd November, 2023 at 13:00 (IST) and at 08:30 (UK) |
| Venue | India vs Sri Lanka will take place at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, India |
| Weather | Conditions are expected to be exceedingly hot come the start of play with sunshine baking down on the ground and temperatures at highs of 35c, remaining in the thirties for the entirety of this match even after the sun goes down. |
| TV & Streaming | Viewers in India: you can watch this match live on Star Sports channels or stream it via the Disney+ Hotstar app. |
| Viewers in Pakistan: you can watch this match live on both PTV Sports and A-Sports or stream it through the PTVFLIX App. | |
| Viewers in Sri Lanka: you can watch this match live on Maharaja TV or stream it on Sirasatv. Lk. | |
| Viewers in Afghanistan: you can watch this match live on Ariana TV. | |
| Viewers in Bangladesh: you can watch it on Gazi TV or stream it through Rabbithole. | |
| Viewers in the UK: you can watch this match live on Sky Sports or stream it via the Sky Go App. | |
| Viewers in Australia: you can watch this match live on Fox Sports or stream it via the Foxtel or Kayo Sports app. | |
| Viewers in South Africa: you can watch this match on SuperSport channels or stream it via the SuperSport app. | |
| Viewers in the USA and Canada: you can watch this match live on Willow TV, whilst viewers from the USA can also stream it via the ESPN+ app. |
KEY BETTING STATS
- India have won all six of their 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup group stage matches played so far – To Win the Match
- Rohit Sharma has scored over 41.5 runs in each of India’s last five 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup matches – Batter Match Runs
- Pathum Nissanka has scored 30+ runs in each of Sri Lanka’s last five 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup matches – Batter Milestones
BETTING ANALYSIS For INDIA
Despite struggling on a difficult pitch for batters in Lucknow, scoring 229/9 against England after losing the toss and batting first, India’s bowlers responded with a magnificent performance, bowling out the World Champions for just 129, winning by 100 runs. Expect a significantly higher-scoring contest here in Mumbai, which has already played host to scores of 399/7 and 382/5 both accumulated by South Africa.
Sri Lanka’s bowling unit has proven one of the more expensive attacks of the group stage, most notably conceding a World Cup record score of 428 runs against the Proteas. Expect India’s top batters to cash in, most notably opener Rohit Sharma who boasts 398 runs over the course of the tournament so far, averaging 66.33 with scores of 87, 46, 48, 86, and 131 across his last five innings. Back India’s captain to score a fifty in this match (2.10) and investors willing to make a riskier play for a higher reward can back Rohit to hit his second score of 100+ runs (4.00) in the tournament so far.
When taking into account that Sri Lanka’s opening partnership has failed to accrue more than 22 runs in five of their six completed group games, expect the Indian duo of Rohit and Shubman Gill to record the highest opening partnership of this contest (1.53). Elsewhere in the top order, Virat Kohli will be desperate to bounce back immediately following his score of 0 against England. With 354 runs and an average of 88.60 across the group stage, backing Kohli to finish as India’s top batter (3.75) looks a shrewd move.
With all-rounder Hardik Pandya expected to be out until the knockout stage due to his ankle ligament injury, Mohammed Shami should get another chance to impress on the back consecutive star performances. The right-arm pacer backed up his 5/54 vs New Zealand with 4/22 against England. Such form makes him well worth backing to finish as India’s top bowler (3.75) for a third straight match and also to take 3+ wickets (3.00).
BETTING ANALYSIS For SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka’s bowlers lacked potency when required this past Monday, despite taking a wicket in the first over defending 241 against Afghanistan. Kusal Mendis’ side would take just two more wickets across the run chase as Afghanistan emerged victorious in the 46th over, a brutal blow to Sri Lanka’s hopes of finishing in the top four.
Injuries have really scuppered Sri Lanka’s hopes, with captain Dasun Shanaka, all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga, and fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana just three of the key players unavailable to them last time out and for the rest of the tournament. Dilshan Madushanka has impressed with the ball, taking 13 wickets across the group stage so far. Averaging over two wickets per game, the smart play is backing the left-arm pacer to take over 1.5 wickets (2.37). Madushanka also warrants backing via the ‘Team – Top Bowler’ market (3.20).
Throughout the majority of the competition, we’ve seen Sri Lanka lose an early wicket, specifically the partner of Pathum Nissanka, whether that be Kusal Perera or Dimuth Karunaratne, the latter having replaced Perera against Afghanistan. With that in mind, back Sri Lanka to record an opening partnership of under 24.5 runs (1.90) for what would be the sixth time in seven group matches.
Despite this, opener Nissanka has been Sri Lanka’s star batter across the World Cup from a consistency perspective, even if he isn’t their highest run-scorer. Four scores of 50+ is a testament to his efforts and his reliability makes him worthy of investment, specifically to score over 24.5 match runs (1.83) for a sixth consecutive fixture.
CRICKET 8’S EXPERT PREDICTION
If India are to bat first following the outcome of the toss, then the expectation is that they will accumulate an extremely large total on what should be a super batting surface at the Wankhede Stadium against a depleted Sri Lankan bowling attack. While the number of runs India will get should they be chasing depends on how well they bowl, Sri Lanka has managed to record at least 200 runs in every group game so far in which they have been batting first.
With that in mind, there should be enough runs in play here to see the India top order enjoy plenty of time at the crease, specifically Rohit Sharma. His weight of runs, consistent scoring, and sensible play have contributed to his superb numbers across the group stage and it would be a surprise to see him not record his sixth consecutive World Cup score of over 41.5 runs.
TIP
ROHIT SHARMA TO SCORE OVER 41.5 MATCH RUNS (1.83)
