The Great Game Called Cricket...

NAGPUR: After an extraordinary high-scoring thriller at Rajkot, bowlers should expect no respite in the second ODI between India and Sri Lanka to be

played here on Friday. The pitch at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium in Jamtha would be a bowlers' graveyard indicating another run-riot in the offing.

At Rajkot, where the first One-dayer saw 825 runs being scored, India found out that even a total of 414 wasn't beyond Sri Lanka's reach.

The bowlers would be aware that in the last ODI here, India posted a total of 354 for 7 against Australia in a match that saw over 600 runs being scored.

And just last week when both India and Sri Lanka crossed swords in a Twenty20 match, over 400 runs were scored in 40 overs - Sri Lanka scored 215 while India finished with 186.

The pitch report from Praveen Hinganikar, a former Vidarbha Ranji Trophy skipper, was on expected lines: "It will be a good, sporting wicket. Given the pitch's hardness, the ball will come on nicely to the bat and the strokeplayers will enjoy batting on this surface. However, the bowlers willing to bend their backs will also get some help."

Asked whether he got enough time to prepare the pitch, Hinganikar said, "It requires 25 to 30 hours of rolling and we have enough time on hand. It will be a good wicket."