New Zealand under pressure to stay afloat

Despite finding out the morning before their first match that Gautam Gambhir had aggravated a groin injury and would take no part in the series, India's captain MS Dhoni was confident of the side's chances. He has reason to be.

This is India's third one-day series in Sri Lanka over the last 13 months. Where for decades India's record here had been nothing to crow over - they arrived for a tri-series in 2005 having won just nine of 33 matches - a strong one-day outfit has turned that record around dramatically.They have won seven of ten matches since then and in their last two series proved the past now counts for little, beating Sri Lanka 3-2 last August and 4-1 in February. In terms of rankings, there's plenty at stake for India in this series - if they go unbeaten into the final and win there, they will climb to No. 1 in the ICC's ODI rankings for the first time.

India strutted their stuff at the two practice sessions they had since arriving two days after the tournament began, and look confident. There were no traces of rust in how their batsmen and bowlers applied themselves. On the whole, the manner of their preparation has been calm and self-assured even though Virender Sehwag, a critical cog in the batting line-up, is missing. Plenty of responsibility will be on Rahul Dravid, recalled to the one-day team after two years. India's middle order has been shaky against fast, short-pitched bowling and if a wicket goes down early, expect Dravid to walk out first.

To beat a confident Indian outfit, New Zealand will have to shape up in disciplines that let them down in the first game. Their batting was rocked by a superb display from three bowlers of varying speeds and trajectories - Ian Bishop called it one of the best one-day efforts under lights he had seen - but the application was perhaps to blame. The top order seemed intent on attacking from the start. In the field, New Zealand failed to finish the job when Sri Lanka were 69 for 5 in 25.3 overs, and also gave them leeway with singles and doubles in the field. That was surprising given how efficient they were in the Twenty20s. A defeat tomorrow will see them crash out of the short tournament.