KARACHI, July 5: The stage is now all set for a grand finish to the ninth Asia Cup cricket tournament when India take on defending champions Sri Lanka in what promises to be a great day/night final at the National Stadium here on Sunday.

Notwithstanding Pakistan’s failure to qualify for the decider on their home territory, it should be a cracking game of cricket between two evenly-matched sides who have collectively dominated the championship since its inception in the early 1980s, and will once again battle it out in a repeat of the 2004 final.

If Sri Lanka — who, incredibly, have qualified for all the eight finals since this concept was introduced from 1986 onwards — are successful in retaining the crown, they would be equalling India’s record of four Asian titles.

Sunday’s big clash pits Sri Lanka and India against each other for the sixth time in an Asia Cup final. After being victorious in the 1988 tournament in Bangladesh, India completed their hat-trick of titles when they lifted the trophy under Mohammad Azharuddin’s leadership at Kolkata in 1990-91 and again in 1995 on the neutral territory of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have turned the tables on the Indians twice in the 1997 and 2004 finals, and on both occasions they were inspired by home supporters at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.

One man who knows what it is like playing in the charged-up atmosphere of a final is Sanath Jayasuriya. The great man has the remarkable distinction of being a regular part of the Sri Lanka team since his debut in the regional competition in 1990-91.

Now at an age when generally most cricketers — and sportsmen — think of their pension, Jayasuriya has defied odds and shown that he’s still a major threat to the bowlers — and the fielders’ — well-being.

The Sri Lankan former captain marked his 39th birthday last Monday (June 30) in grand style, savaging the Bangladesh bowlers to the tune of 130 runs in 88 deliveries.But espite being thus far the only man to reach 1,000 Asia Cup runs, Jayasuriya has not been able to leave his impression in the finals, mustering only 127 runs and taking just three wickets with his left-arm spin in five such appearances.

The record-breaking Jayasuriya, however, is on course of reaching yet another landmark in his distinguished international career on Sunday — his 25th Asia Cup appearance will take him past countryman Aravinda de Silva.

It’s hard to separate these two great rivals on formbook in this tournament, but Sri Lanka definitely have an edge over India on the bowling front chiefly because they have the services of Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas, the men who have over the years contributed hugely to many Sri Lankan victories.

India, in contrast, do not have the kind of bowling luxury that Sri Lanka possess. However, they definitely have the more explosive batting line-up with Suresh Raina, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni — all in good nick.

Sri Lanka have relied heavily on Kumar Sangakkara, who has scored three tons before the final, and Jayasuriya.

Moreover, Sri Lanka have unearthed another rare talent in Ajantha Mendis, the unorthodox slow medium bowler who is the leading wicket-taker in this tournament with 11 scalps.

The 23-year-old Mendis was rested along with Vaas in Thursday’s penultimate Super League game India, which according to skipper Mahela Jayawardene was part of the plan because Sri Lanka had already qualified for the final.

Jayawardene, himself overdue for a big score, said he is confident the bowlers wouldn’t let the side down in the final.

“We rested them [Vaas and Mendis] because we wanted to rest them. It’s all about executing your game plan. We want young Ajantha to enjoy his first final by not putting pressure on the guy. We are going to give him the freedom to show his rare talents,” he said.

Jayawardene was also confident that Sri Lanka would focus their attention towards retaining the title. “We set ourselves a goal to get into the final. Now we just have to focus hard on the day.”

Dhoni, meanwhile, said it will be a tough final because Sri Lanka are a very good team.

“We are playing Sri Lanka. They are a great side in these conditions. We expect them to come hard at us in what will be a tough game. But we are ready for the big challenge in this final,” the Indian captain remarked.

The pitch is unlikely to change its character much with batsmen again coming to the party in a big way. Dhoni and Jayawardene are wary of the fact a target in the 300-320 region is easily attainable on the NSK featherbed.

During the media briefing after India chased down Sri Lanka’s total of 309, both skippers jokingly remarked that they would be safe with a total somewhere close to 400 to lift the Asia Cup come Sunday!

Teams (from):

SRI LANKA: Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Chamara Kapugedera, Chamara Silva, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara, Ajantha Mendis, Muttiah Muralitharan, Jehan Mubarak, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Mahela Udawatte, Dilhara Fernando.

INDIA: Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, R.P. Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Robin Uthappa, Manpreet Gony.

Umpires: Simon Taufel (Australia) and Tony Hill (New Zealand).

TV umpire: Zameer Haider (Pakistan).

Match referee: Alan Hurst (Australia).