Sri Lanka suffered a heavy blow on the eve of the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup against India when all-rounder Angelo Mathews was ruled out of the game with a right thigh strain.Mathews has been a crucial member of the Sri Lankan ODI outfit ever since making his debut two years ago and the team management were waiting with their fingers crossed hoping he would recover, but the 24-year-old was ruled out of the game and a request to draft in off-spinner Suraj Randiv was approved by the ICC Event Technical Committee.
Randiv was flown to Mumbai on Thursday along with Chaminda Vaas and he was brought into the squad ahead of the left-arm seamer. Mathews strained a thigh muscle while fielding during Sri Lanka’s semi-final clash against New Zealand in Colombo and although he battedwith the assistance of a runner, he failed to recover in time for the final.
Today’s game at Wankhede Stadium here in Bombay will be both teams’ third appearance in ICC World Cup finals. While India qualified for the 1983 and 2003 finals, Sri Lanka played the 1996 and 2007 finals with both teams winning one championship each.
In India’s group games they won four games losing to South Africa while the game against England was a tie. Sri Lanka too won four games and lost to Pakistan while the game against Australia was washed off.
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