SL v IND, 4th ODI Preview: India will look to continue their dominance in Colombo

Albeit India have taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in five-match ODI series, there is a sense of competitiveness heading into the fourth ODI in Colombo. What has been a one-sided series till now came to life when Akila Dananjaya put the cat among the pigeons, whereas Lahiru Thirimanne has incandescent hope to Sri Lanka’s batting order.

The host will be hoping that their performance electrifies Sri Lankan cricket, which is seeking a new dawn. The visitors, whose tryst with batting experiment almost blew up in their faces, will be looking to shrug aside their struggles of second and third ODI and approach the fourth game like they have been doing from last year and a half.

Thirimanne’s solid display with bat ensured Sri Lanka to reach a score just above 200 which eventually gave their bowlers some score to restrict. However, Niroshan Dickwella and Kusal Mendis will have to kick on and make their starts count by converting them into meaningful contributions.

Upal Tharanga’s absence was a “blessing in disguise” for Sri Lanka, who struggled with the bat in this series. His absence paved way for Dinesh Chandimal whose outing didn’t turn out in the way he would have wanted as an injured right thumb ruled the Test skipper out of series.

For India, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Kedar Jadhav departed by playing some loose shots, not letting the ball to come onto the bat rather, they tried to charge down the wicket which either dislodged stumps or handed easy catches to the deep mid-wicket fielder. However, Rohit Sharma represented a venerable tradition and Dhoni was street smart. At times, they countered the wily spinner by using their feet.

India will look to continue their dominance in remaining two games and at the same time look to try some new faces. The only thing running in the minds of Indians is to taste 5-0 on Sri Lanka soil.

Focus will be on

Lahiru Thirimanne (Sri Lanka)

The left handed batsman has not only been able to ignite hope Sri Lanka’s camp but has also been the pillar of Sri Lanka’s middle order. He announced himself after scoring a fine fifty against a lethal bowling attack. Getting out on 80 would definitely be on his mind and the left-hander would look to convert the same into a big hundred in the next two games.

Jasprit Bumrah (India)

Bumrah’s new ball burst has pegged back the host on a number of occasions. The Right-arm medium-fast bowler uses his tall frame to good effect extracting bounce even on docile tracks. Line and Length being his forte, Bumrah will be looking to lead the bowling attack from the front and utilize all his experience to bother Sri Lanka’s batting order.

Playing Combination

Sri Lanka

Niroshan Dickwella will open the batting alongside a new opening partner after Dinesh Chandimal has been ruled out of ongoing ODI series. The stabilizer, Kusal Mendis who has his own repertoire, is expected to deliver for his team again will take all important No. 3 spot, followed by the inform Lahiru Thirimanne at No. 4. Angelo Mathews, Milinda Siriwardana, and Wanidu Hasaranga need to build the foundation into a mammoth score.

Sri Lanka’s bowling unit seemed incapable of dislodging India’s batting order until Dananjaya came with yet another breath taking spell and triggered a collapse. Dananjaya, along with Siriwardana proved to be best among many by being handy resources to trouble India’s batting order. The experience of Malinga will be crucial for Sri Lanka to do wonders.

India

It is unlikely that India will tinker with their opening combination as Shikhar will be accompanied by man-in-form Rohit Sharma. Virat Kohli will certainly bat at No. 3, followed by Manish Pandey and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, with Kedar and Hardik Pandya occupying lower middle order spots.

India’s bowling unit has been on song thus far in this series. Having said that, Bhuvneshwar has gone wicketless in the ODIs so far and also been a bit unlucky despite troubling batsman with his skiddy pace. While Jasprit Bumrah, Chahal, and Axar Patel have done a good job for their side by providing wickets at the right time, India might look to rest Chahal and try Kuldeep Yadav.

Probable XI

Srilanka: Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Dilshan Munaweera, Kusal Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, , Milinda Siriwardana, Wanidu Hasaranga, Akila Dananjaya, Dushmantha Chameera, Vishwa Fernando and Lasith Malinga (c).

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (c), Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandaya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah.

Stat Attack

1- Lasith Malinga is one wicket short of 300 ODI dismissals.

1- MS Dhoni is one short of reaching the milestone of claiming 100 victims behind the stumps.

3- Lasith Malinga will be leading the side in Kapugedera’s absence, which means, Sri Lanka has handed over the captaincy for the third time in series.