Curator predicts a run feast at Barabati

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With a batting-friendly wicket on offer, another high scoring spectacle seems to be on the cards when India and Sri Lanka clash for the third one-dayer of the five-match series at Barabati Stadium here on Monday.

If curator for the Barabati stadium is to be believed, the pitch will assist batsmen and it promises to be a 300-plus wicket.

"We have given our best to prepare a batting wicket. We hope it turns out to be a batsman paradise on the lines of what we witnessed in Rajkot and Nagpur," curator Pankaj Patnaik said.

"Bowlers will get good bounce and there will be little turn for spinners but we have to make sure the wickets offer lots of runs as it's a one-day match after all," Patnaik said.

"There will not be much of a difference in batting first or second as we hope the pitch will remain firm," he said.

However, he warned with little chill in the air, dew might pose some problem for the day-night affair.

"We will use some chemical spray to keep dew at bay. We will use it before the match in two hours intervals so that it will negate the dew affect," he said.

Patnaik said they have prepared the same wicket on which India successfully chased England's 270 in the last one-dayer Barabati hosted on November 26, 2008.

Traditionally, Barabati has been a lucky venue for Team India who have won eight, lost four and one was abandoned due to rain.

But they have a poor record against Sri Lanka in Barabati, having lost to them in the only one-dayer played between the two countries on December 28, 1990.

With a new four-storeyed AC corporate box with a capacity of 1,050, two more new galleries and a new pavillion in place, the capacity of Barabati Stadium has increased to 39,000 from the earlier 31,900, according to Orissa Cricket Association (OCA) sources.

The OCA has made elaborate arrangements, erecting eight giant screens at different places of the city so that people who could not make the venue would not miss out on the live action.