New Zealand face Strong India in first ODI

Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Start time 1430 (0900 GMT)

For a series with such an unhurried schedule, the rush to start within three days of the Tests is puzzling. India have had so little time to prepare that they decided to take an army chopper to Dambulla to save time on the five-hour road journey from Colombo. On Monday afternoon, the Indian team had their only practice session ahead of the one-dayers. They had a three-hour net in the middle, observed by the groundstaff going through their last-day preparations such as getting the advertising hoardings in place and the security personnel going through their drills.
In contrast to the packed schedule of Dhoni's team, New Zealand are coming off a lengthy break and have had two sets of practice games, first in Darwin against Indian state side Maharashtra and then against a couple of teams made up of Sri Lankan fringe players.

Both sides are missing key players but India will start as favourites, particularly given the amount of experience the team has of the conditions in Dambulla. One thing to New Zealand's advantage side is that unlike most subcontinental pitches, Dambulla will favour their pace-heavy attack.

Traditionally, the track is far tougher to bat on under lights than in the afternoon session, due to which the toss assumes plenty of importance