India and Sri Lanka will begin the tri-nation series in the island nation on March 6. The series, also involving Bangladesh, has been brought forward by two days from the originally planned start of March 8 to allow the organisers to keep the final for a Sunday. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board are hoping to bring in larger crowds by keeping the final, scheduled for March 18, on a weekend as compared to on a weekend. All games in the series will be played at the R Premadasa Stadium and will begin at 7 PM local time (7 PM IST).
Both India and Bangladesh will arrive in Sri Lanka on March 4. As per Cricbuzz, Bangladesh will play a warm-up game ahead of the series, India will begin without a practice match. The top-ranked India will come into the series having finished their tour of South Africa.
The seven-match T20 series is being played to celebrate Sri Lanka’s 70th year of independence. The Lankan board is expecting a minimum $6.5 million windfall from the series from sale of TV and marketing rights.
Previously the Nidhas Trophy was played in 1998 to mark Sri Lanka’s 50th year of independence and had the islanders host India and New Zealand. In the final, India beat Sri Lanka by 7 runs.
Nidhas Trophy schedule:
March 6 – India vs Sri Lanka at RPS, Colombo at 7 PM
March 8 – India vs Bangladesh at RPS, Colombo at 7 PM
March 10 – Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh at RPS, Colombo at 7 PM
March 12 – India vs Sri Lanka at RPS, Colombo at 7 PM
March 14 – India vs Bangladesh at RPS, Colombo at 7 PM
March 16 – Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh at RPS, Colombo at 7 PM
March 18 – Final at RPS, Colombo at 7 PM
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