While India and Sri Lanka will be fighting each other in the final of the ICC World Cup 2011 at the Wankhede in Mumbai, there will be another mini-battle within the main one that many would look out for.

It is the top run-getters’ chart, which already has three Sri Lankans and two Indian batsmen in the top six – Jonathon Trott being the only outsider.

The top two slots are held by Tillakaratne Dilshan (11/8 at SportingBet) and Sachin Tendulkar (1/1 at Coral), both of whom are separated from each other by three runs. Dilshan has 467 runs to his name while Tendulkar is with 464. Interestingly, both have two centuries and two half-centuries to their name but where Tendulkar scores over Dilshan is that his knocks have come against more difficult opponents.

Where the plot thickens is that the man in form leading up to this India-Sri Lanka final is the presence of Kumar Sangakkara (9/1 at SportingBet), who at 417 runs is only 50 runs behind the leader. Sangakkara scored his only century in the game against New Zealand in the league stage, but interestingly, it was his first in ODI for three years.

Sangakkara occupies a very vital position in the Sri Lankan batting order. With the opening pair firing away, he knows he can take his time to get going but equally important is the fact that Mahela Jayawardene at four and the rest of the batsmen after him are out of runs. This could push Sangakkara into batting through the innings and getting another big one.

Amongst bowlers, Shahid Afridi (8/15 at Coral), whose team was ousted by India in the semi-final is still at the top with 21, with Zaheer Khan’s (13/8 at bet365) 19 just a couple behind. The next best is Muthiah Muralitharan, who needs seven wickets to equal Afridi’s tally – an improbable event.

This means that the race is between Afridi and Zaheer to end the World Cup with most wickets. Given the way Zaheer has bowled in the World Cup so far, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him get those three and come away with the top honour.