PORT OF SPAIN — India and Sri Lanka meet yet again, this time in the final of the Tri-Nation Series at Queen's Park Oval Thursday, amid increasing speculation that Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be back to the lead the World Cup and Champions Trophy holder. Dhoni sustained a right hamstring strain while batting against the West Indies in his team's first match of the tournament on June 30 at Sabina Park in Kingston and an announcement was made the following day that he was ruled out of the rest of the competition with uncapped batsman Ambati Rayudu being flown in as his replacement. However, India's most successful captain ever has remained with the squad, and while there has as yet been no official word from the touring party, his presence on the field in pre-match warm-ups and in full team uniform during and after the final preliminary fixture against Sri Lankan Tuesday increase the likelihood that he will be back as at the helm for the final. Stand-in captain Virat Kohli hinted as much at the toss ahead of the comprehensive victory over Angelo Mathews' side when he expressed hope that Dhoni had been recovering well enough to be able to play if it had gotten through to the final. Should he be passed fit, it is expected that Murali Vijay will make way for the man increasingly regarded as the finest international captain in the contemporary game. With or without Dhoni though, India is bracing for a much tougher Sri Lankan challenge than what transpired Tuesday when fast-medium bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar produced the outstanding figures of four for eight and engineered the demolition of the 1996 World Cup winner for just 96. Sri Lanka had all but qualified for the final ahead of that encounter and their performance with the bat on the way to an 81-run defeat on the Duckworth/Lewis Scoring Method reflected a noticeable lack of intensity that is not expected to be repeated in the final. It has its own injury concerns with a question mark lingering over the availability of fast-medium bowler Nuwan Kulasekara, who injured a finger on his left hand while attempting to take a return catch of Chris Gayle in the match against the West Indies Monday. A four-wicket spell from Kumar helped India beat Sri Lanka by 81 runs under the Duckworth/Lewis method Tuesday to set up a re-match. The result means host nation, West Indies, was eliminated from the competition while India, which picked up a bonus point, finished top of the group. Heavy rain cut short India's innings at the Queen's Park Oval after 29 overs with Rohit Sharma unbeaten on 48 as it made 119-3 with Virat Kohli's 31. That meant a target of 178 in 26 overs for Sri Lanka but while that appeared, on paper, a reachable goal, the tough batting conditions and fine Indian bowling made it a task beyond them. Kumar, getting bounce and movement, removed four of the top five Sri Lankan batsmen for just 31 runs, a deadly spell which effectively ended the run chase inside nine overs. Only Dinesh Chandimal with 26 from 58 balls, provided any real resistance. — Agencies Scorecard India R. Sharma not out 48 S. Dhawan c Jayawardene b Mathews 15 V. Kohli lbw b Herath 31 D. Karthik b Herath 12 S. Raina not out 04 Extras: (1b, 3lb, 3w, 2nb) 9 Total: (3 wickets, 29 overs) 119 Falls: 1-27, 2-75, 3-111. Did not bat: Murali Vijay, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav. Bowling: Shaminda Eranga 6-0-27-0 (1w), Dilhara Lokuhettige 8-0-40-0 (2nb, 1w), Angelo Mathews 5-1-5-1, Lasith Malinga 3-1-7-0, Rangana Herath 6-0-32-2, Jeevan Mendis 1-0-4-0 (1w). Sri Lanka (D/L target 178 off 26 overs) U. Tharanga c Raina b Kumar 06 M. Jayawardene c Vijay b Kumar 11 K. Sangakkara lbw b Kumar 00 D. Chandimal st Karthik b Jadeja 26 L. Thirimanne c Kohli b Kumar 00 A. Mathews c Karthik b Jadeja 10 J. Mendis b Ashwin 13 D. Lokuhettige c Karthik b Ishant 06 R. Herath c Vijay b Ishant 04 S. Eranga not out 02 L. Malinga c Jadeja b Yadav 7 Extras: (6lb, 5w) 11 Total: (24.4 overs) 96 Falls: 1-14, 2-14, 3-27, 4-31, 5-56, 6-63, 7-78, 8-84, 9-87, 10-96. Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 6-1-8-4, Umesh Yadav 4.4-0-28-1 (w3), Ishant Sharma 4-0-17-2, Ravindra Jadeja 5-0-17-2 (w1), Ravichandran Ashwin 5-0-20-1 (w1).
