The final looks to be an evenly matched contest. Two in-form top orders ready to set up victory for their sides, whether setting a near-unbeatable target, or chasing down whatevr score is thrown their way. Both middle orders look a little under done, although on paper India have the edge. That may prove crucial, although in the bowling stakes I give the edge to Sri Lanka, which may balance out that batting depth. In the end, I think it will quite possibly be decided by the crowd. Or at least whether India use the crowd to help them rise to their best, or buckle under the weight of expectation and underperform on the biggest stage.Therefore, I think India would definitely want to bat first, have Sehwag and Tendulkar get them away to a good start, and surf the emotion to a high score.
In 2003, Ponting had pretty much batted India out of the contest with a brilliantly belligerent innings, but losing Tendulkar in the first over pretty much killed the chase before it began. India won't want to be in that place again. If they are going to make 300 without Tendulkar contributing, it's much more likely to be batting first. Of course, the stage is set for Tendulkar - the home final, the chance for his first World Cup, and on the verge of being the first man to reach 100 international centuries. If the stars align, India will deify Tendulkar to a whole new level. Of course, there's someone on the other side who knows a thing or two about greatness. Muralitharan may just have one match winning performance left in him. What a way for these two veterans to go out - unfortunately one of them needs to lose for the other to win.
<Edit>See Kersi Meher-Homji's preview here. I'll leave it to him to call Murali 'controversial' or otherwise.
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