Hobart, Feb 27 :Pushed to the very brink of elimination, a demoralised India face an ardous task of beating Sri Lanka with a bonus point to have any remote chance of qualifying to the final of the cricket tri-series when the two sides clash here tomorrow.
Barely left standing on their feet after a dismal show in the tournament, India would not only need a win with a bonus point to remain alive but also hope that Australia would somehow prevail over Lanka in the last league match on Melbourne on March 2.
The odds are heavily staked against the beleaguered Indians but teams have won with bonus points and India would hope that they do it tomorrow or leave Australian shores with humiliation after a Test series whitewash.
A bonus point is earned when a team achieves a run-rate of 1.25 times than that of the opposition. A team's run-rate will be calculated by the reference to the runs scored in an innings, divided by the numbers of overs faced.
In essence, India needs to chase down a target in 40 overs or while batting first, get the opposition out in the least number of overs as possible.
A bonus point though looks a wild dream for a team which is getting all-out in most of the matches and have suffered defeats by the margin of 101, 51 and 87 runs in last three successive matches.
No Indian has hit a hundred nor have they managed a century partnership in the tournament and the highest score from their miserable batsmen last night against Australia in Sydney was a mere 23. There have been only eight partnerships of 50 or more.
They have lost four of their seven matches and managed a tie in one game.
