SLvIND : Team India looks for whitewash in the 5th ODI

September 2, 2017

India will face Sri Lanka in the fifth and final One day International to be played at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo tomorrow. It was a complete domination by team India who batted first after winning the toss. Indian captain Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma scored centuries adding 219 runs for the second wicket.

Despite losing 3 wickets, Manish Pandey and MS Dhoni added 100 runs which helped the Men in Blue to post a massive 375 for 5. In the previous match, Shardul Thakur, Manish Pandey, and Kuldeep Yadav came into the playing XI. While bowling it was a good performance with Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah taking 2 wickets each. Hardik Pandya was promoted at number 4

KL Rahul failed to impress during the 4^th ODI also scoring just 7 runs. India will be looking to give youngsters chances in tomorrow’s match. Rahane will be given a chance as Shikhar Dhawan has been ruled out of the 5^th ODI for taking care of his ill mother. Dhawan also misses the lone T20 match against Sri Lanka to be played on 6^th September.

Manish Pandey scored 50 and MS Dhoni contributed 49 runs which helped India to post a massive total. Kuldeep Yadav also did well taking 2 wickets for 31 runs. Bumrah and Thakur also did a decent job with the new ball. The batting order could be changed according to the situation.

As far the hosts are concerned, they struggled to contain top quality batting line up of India. Despite getting Shikhar Dhawan early, the bowling looked weak with Rohit Sharma and Kohli smashing the Sri Lankan bowling to all parts of the ground. Their captain Upul Tharanga will make a comeback into the squad after 2 match suspension due to slow over rate.

The top order batsmen have not given good starts to the team. In the previous match, Mathews was the top scorer with 70 runs. Sri Lanka was bowled out for 207 in 42.4 overs. Lasith Malinga picked his 300^th wicket but was expensive. The hosts would want to win the last match. The 1996 World Cup winner has not qualified directly. It is going to be the big task for Sri Lanka to beat this Indian team.