Colombo - India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand hope to put in impressive performances in a tri-series starting here on Tuesday to boost confidence ahead of the Champions Trophy.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's India side start as favourites despite missing injured opener Virender Sehwag and paceman Zaheer Khan, having beaten both New Zealand and Sri Lanka in their own backyards in their last one-day series.
India are seeking a hat-trick of wins in Sri Lanka after clinching a pair of bilateral five-match series in August 2008 and in February this year.
Each team will play two league matches before the top two qualify for the final on September 14. The hosts clash with New Zealand in Tuesday's opening game.
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'The tri-series will be good preparation for the upcoming Champions Trophy' Sri Lanka's record-breaking Muttiah Muralitharan believes the series will help the teams prepare for the eight-nation Champions Trophy which opens in South Africa on September 22.
"The tri-series will be good preparation for the upcoming Champions Trophy," said the off-spinner who is the world's leading wicket-taker in Tests (783) and one-day internationals (511).
"New Zealand have shown in the past few days how much more dangerous they are in the shorter version, winning both Twenty20 matches, and India have happy memories of Sri Lanka after two series wins here in the last 13 months.
"It will be a great test for the Sri Lankan team."
Daniel Vettori's New Zealanders salvaged some of their reputation when they stunned the hosts in two Twenty20 internationals last week after being whitewashed in the preceding two-Test series.
'to make the final will be a great stepping stone for the Champions Trophy' "The guys will take a lot of confidence from that," Vettori said after his team's Twenty20 success.
"They can take that into the one-dayers. For us, to make the final will be a great stepping stone for the Champions Trophy."
Focus will be on Indian batsman Rahul Dravid and New Zealand paceman Shane Bond, returning to one-day sides after playing their last match in 2007.
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