Ranchi, November 15:
Having decimated the opposition with clinical precision in all four matches, India will be aiming to complete a clean sweep when they take on a struggling Sri Lanka in the fifth and final cricket one-dayer here tomorrow.
With the series already in their pocket, Virat Kohli-led team would like to finish with a 5-0 which will be a confidence booster with the ICC World Cup starting in less than 100 days’ time.
If India have been thoroughly professional in their first three outings, the penultimate one at Eden Gardens, turned out to be historic with Rohit Sharma smashing his way into the record books with a highest individual ODI score of 264 as India routed the islanders by 153 runs.
Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews has admitted that nothing was going their way after a string of embarrassing failures. The worst part was that they were never able to give India any competition.
If the bowling has lacked the venom in absence of their sling-arm fast bowler Lasith Malinga, it’s better not to say something about the fielding which has failed to give them the back-up.
Rohit, incidentally was the third Indian centurion in the series, to have been let-off early in his innings. Having been dropped on 4 by Thisara Perera who let go a regulation catch, Rohit made merry during his return to international cricket after sustaining a finger injury during the ODI series in England.
The Mumbaikar unfortunately missed out on the first three ODIs as the team had already been picked by then but he had made his intentions clear with a 111-ball 145 in the warm-up match against Sri Lanka, his first competitive game since recovery.
Rohit was brought in place of Shikhar Dhawan, the leading run-getter in the series so far, in a slew of changes for the last two ODIs and he has seized the opportunity to perfection. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel