And then there were two

With South Africa flying home after worries over security, the Unitech Cup will now become a three-match one-day series between hosts Sri Lanka and India, starting on Friday.

And to be totally truthful, the absence of South Africa will probably not be that much of a loss as they were in woeful form.

Sri Lanka's love of one-day cricket is matched and perhaps even surpassed only by India and the two should be closely-matched.

But this series is about one thing above all else - the return of Sachin Tendulkar to international cricket after five months out of the game through injury. The little maestro is champing at the bit to get back at it and that spells trouble for Sri Lanka as he averages 44, with a world-record 39 Test centuries.

Sri Lanka have won 11 of their past 20 one-day matches and have won 42 of their 61 matches at the venue for the first game.

India's record in Sri Lanka is not the best - they have won just nine of their 33 matches there - so they will need to improve on that mark, but they have won 12 of their past 20 overall and have the talent to beat anyone when they get it right.

Bet365 have yet to re-price up the series but Sri Lanka are 4/6 (1,66) to win the first match, while India are 11/10 (2.10).