LIVE: Pandey, Karthik esnure smooth sailing, India beat SL by 6 wickets

Five minutes from toss time, the covers are coming off. So, there is some good news. But it is certain that the toss will be delayed.

A brilliant partnership between Manish Pandey (42) and Dinesh Karthik (39) hands India a six wicket win over hosts Sri Lanka and with that they also move to the top of the table with two wins in three matches.

Rahul steps onto the stumps 

Dear oh dear! Who was talking about luck here? After surviving a very close run out call, which many believed should have gone Sri Lanka's way, KL Rahul steps on to his stumps after nudging the ball towards square-leg to become the first India to get hit-wicket in T20Is. Sri Lanka have got their fourth. This match is well and trule alive.

Rahul gets out of jail

NOT OUT! Yes that's correct, the third umpire has ruled it in favour of KL Rahul, giving him the benefit of doubt, even though it seemed his bat was on the line. A stroke of luck goes India's way.

Raina departs

Loose shot Raina. This was his day, he just had to stay there. But he didn't. Got carried away, like he so often does. Dances down the track in an attempt to loft it straight over the bowler's head and ends up chipping it to mid-off. His cameo comes to an end, the Premadasa crowd comes alive. IND: 62/3

50 up for India

There's the fifty for India. Suresh Raina is a man on a mission here. Hits a couple of fours and a six in one over to bring the Indian chase back on track.

Dananjaya on fire

Dhawan, the man in form is walking back now. Dhawan was done in the air, tries to adjust and check his shot but it was too late. A simple catch for Thisara Perera at mid-on. Game on at Colombo

KL Rahul comes in at No.3, big game for the right-hander.

Dananjaya gets Rohit

OUT! Straight to the man at mid-wicket. Rohit Sharma's torrid time continues. A harmless delivery around the leg stump, Rohit dances down the track, doesn't quite get a hold of it and hits it straight to mid-wicket.

Superb start for Rohit

Exactly like the Sri Lankan innings, Rohit Sharma starts off with a six and four. He needs a big knock here, the Indian captain. The setting is perfect, the score is just about ideal and the pitch will get only get quicker. IND: 11/0 after 1 over.

Sri Lanka innings round-up

The Indians will be really elated heading into the break and they need to thank their bowlers for pulling things back. Washington Sundar was superb while Yuzvendra Chahal too did well to keep the pressure. Towards the end the pacers through their knuckle balls never let the lower middle order take the game away. Shardul Thakur picked up a 4-fer while the other too got one apiece. It's a good wicket to bat on and the visitors should fancy themselves to chase this down. Unless, of course if the hosts' bowlers come up with something special. Join us back for the chase in just a bit...

Mendis got to his fifty in the process and the duo amassed 62-run stand for the third wicket before Tharanga was dismissed. The wicket of the southpaw saw Thisara Perera getting a promotion and boy, he came out all guns blazing. His cameo was cut short and that led to a collapse. Sri Lanka couldn't recover as the kept losing wickets in their bid to get to a big total which saw them managing just 2 more of 150 in the end.

Good comeback from the Indians after being swatted around the park in the first 10 overs. Sri Lanka were off to a flier and the fact that they hit 11 off the very first over of the game proves the point. However, once Gunathilaka departed, the threatening Kusal Perera didn't last long either and it seemed like India are back in it. That wasn't the case as Kusal Mendis and Upul Tharanga then took it forward and joined forces to continue the assault.

India restrict Sri Lanka to 152/9 (Mendis 55, Shardul 4/27) in 19-over game at Colombo 

Double strike for Shardul

Four wickets for Shardul Thakur. A clean outside edge and an even cleaner catch behind the stumps from Dinesh Karthik to dismiss Lakmal and then a beatiful knuckle ball to send back No. 10 Chameera.

Was that obstructing the field?

No it wasn't. Both the third umpire and the onfield umpires agree to that. But Shardul Thakur though Shanaka changed his track to deliberately get in the line of the ball. No harm done for Sri Lanka

Unadkat strikes

Unadkat rolls his fingers over the ball and this trick rarely fails. Akila Dananjaya goes through the shot way too early and ends up scopping it to KL Rahul at long on. SL: 146/7

Mendis falls for 55

Oh No! Sri Lanka sink deeper. It's Kusal Mendis the set batsman. A very soft dismissal, he would be mighty disappointed when he sees the replay. A back of a length delivery from Chahal, he hits it straight down to the cover fielder. Sri Lanka in a bit of trouble now.

Three in three for India

#NidhasTrophy2018 #INDvsSL: BOWLED'EM! Washington Sundar gets Jeevan Mendis. Three wickets in three overs for India. #SL: 118/5 https://t.co/k2IHUYcpgD pic.twitter.com/A32nSRUsFD

— Wah Cricket (@ABPCricketHindi) March 12, 2018

Perera falls

You live by the sword, you also die by it. It was almost too good to be true. Thisara Perera came out with an agenda to hit everything out of the park. He succeeded for the first three deliveries but not this time. The knuckle ball does the trick for Shardul Thakur. He picks up his second of the night. Sri Lanka are losing wickets quickly.

Time for Mendis to soak in the applause

#NidhasTrophy2018 #INDvsSL: 5⃣0⃣ for Kusal Mendis, his fourth in last five innings. #SL 113/3 pic.twitter.com/8q9B69pYQo

— Wah Cricket (@ABPCricketHindi) March 12, 2018

Two sixes off the first two balls

What's happening here? Thisara Perera has come out all guns blazing, hits his first two deliveries for two stunning sixes - one over mid-wicket and the next one over long-off. Vijay Shankar did not see that coming, certainly not after picking up Tharanga's wicket. Sri Lanka are 108/3 after 11.

Shankar ends Tharanga's misery

Straight through, that's the end of an agonising innings from Upul Tharanga (22). Attempts an ugly looking heave over mid-wicket, misses it completely it and the Shankar hits timber. He tried many shots today but connected very few. A timely wicket for India. SL: 96/3

Chahal conceds 17 runs in one over

A slog weep from Tharanga and a brilliant pull shot going deep into the crease from Kusal Menis, the connection? Both went for six in the same Chahal over, that included a wide too. 17 runs off it. SL: 75/2 after 8.

Sri Lanka 53/2 at the end of powerplay

Terrific stuff from Sundar. He has bowled three overs in the powerplay giving away only 18 runs and not to forget the big wicket of Kusal Perera. Sri Lanka have made their way to 53 for two at the end of the powerplay.

BIG WICKET

That's big! That's HUGE! It's Kusal Perera (3), the man in red-hot form in the tri-series. He brings his own downfall one would have to say. Tries a reverse sweep, the shot which worked so well for him in the last two games. But this time only gets the edge and the ball trickles onto his stumps. Sundar is delighted. SL: 35/2

A stunner from Raina

What a catch! Simply outstanding from Suresh Raina. He dropped a dolly in the last match against Bangladesh and now he pulls off a magnificent catch, which he is known for. Thakur digs in short, Gunathilaka pulls it with force but doesn't get the desired elivation. Raina, at mid-wicket flies towards left to hold on to the catch. India have struck after SL openers were off to a flier. SL: 25/1

5 and a six to begin

Eventful start to the game. KL Rahul's first touch after a comeback was not ideal at all as he gift wraps four runs through over throws in the very first ball of the match and Mendis then hits a one-handed shot over cover that sails over for a six. So 11 off the first two from Unadkat.

SL XI: Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera(w), Upul Tharanga, Dasun Shanaka, Thisara Perera(c), Jeevan Mendis, Akila Dananjaya, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera

IND XI: R Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Lokesh Rahul, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Washington Sundar Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Y Chahal

Team News: KL Rahul finally gets a game. He comes in place of young Rishabh Pant, who failed to impress in the first two matches of the tri-series.

TOSS: India wins the toss and opts to field first at Colombo.

Playing conditions: It will be a 19-over game. 4 bowlers can bowl 4 each, the other 3 overs

Match to start at 8.20 PM IST

#INDvsSL #NidahasTrophy2018 : Toss to take place at 8.05 PM, match will begin from 8.20 PM pic.twitter.com/tZ79j6r4No

— Wah Cricket (@ABPCricketHindi) March 12, 2018

Now, it is a concern

The drizzle has got slightly heavy. And the covers are coming back on. Toss and start of play delayed. Stay tuned for further updates #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/FjA1YjR1yw

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 12, 2018

Slight drizzle again

Just when the toss was about to take place, a slight drizzle forces the umpires to call the covers back on. Further delay expected, still no confirmation about the toss-time. Like the first instance, the rain isn't heavy to raise eyebrows, but it's just enough to keep the covers on.

Covers coming off

Five minutes from toss time, the covers are coming off. So, there is some good news. But it is certain that the toss will be delayed.

Rain alert!

Some not so good news is coming in from Colombo. The R Premadasa Stadium is under covers for the moment. The rain is not heavy though

#NidahasTrophy2018: Rain casts doubt over India-Sri Lanka T20I at R Premadasa Stadium pic.twitter.com/a0PZowSo6G

— Wah Cricket (@ABPCricketHindi) March 12, 2018

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of match No. 4, which is between India and Sri Lanka for the Nidahas Trophy in Colombo.

The preview

The tournament is currently evenly poised as all the three teams have won a game each from two outings but Sri Lanka are leading the table on net run rate ahead of India and Bangladesh.

But a win today would take India to the top, dislodging the Lankans.

Opener Shikhar Dhawan is in imperious form with two back-to-back half-centuries in the tournament so far.

After his 49-ball 90 in the opener against Sri Lanka, Dhawan made 55 off 43 deliveries to help India chase down Bangladesh's below-par 140 total with consummate ease in the last game.

After an indifferent Test series against the Proteas, Dhawan found his mojo back at the start of the limited overs leg in South Africa which can be ascertained from his sequence of scores in the last five T20 --  55, 90, 47, 24, 72.

But Rohit's form remains a cause of concern for India as he made 17,0, 11, 0 and 21 in the last five T20 matches.

Among other Indian batsmen, Manish Pandey (37, 27) looked in good nick and along with comeback man Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik form the core of the team's middle-order.

On the bowling front, Jaydev Unaadkat needs to be more consistent. The left-ar pacer has picked up four wickets in two matches so far but leaked runs which is not expected while spearheading the attack.

The young and inexperienced Indian bowlers have done a decent job so far with the likes of Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal and Vijay Shankar living upto their expectations.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, would be smarting from the shocking five-wicket loss to Bangladesh last night.

Bangladesh pulled off a memorable record chase to stun the Lankans last night, ending their recent run of reverses against the islanders owing to Mushfiqur Rahim's belligerent 35-ball 72.

Chasing a mammoth 215 in the stipulated 20 overs, Bangladesh crossed the line in 19.4 overs for the loss of five wickets, which was the fourth highest run chase in T20 Internationals and Bangladesh's best.

The Lankan bowlers were taken to cleaners by Bangladesh batsmen and the hosts would be hoping for an improved show tomorrow.

On the batting from, the two Kusals -- Kusal Mendis and Kusal Perera are in fine form for Sri Lanka.

Indian bowlers would be wary about Perera, in particular, who has scored 66 and 74 in the two matches, while Mendis made 57 against Bangladesh yesterday.

Teams (from)

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj and Rishabh Pant (wk).

Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (c), Suranga Lakmal (vc), Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Janith Perera, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Isuru Udana, Akila Dananjaya, Amila Aponso, Nuwan Pradeep, Dushmantha Chameera, Dhananjaya De Silva.