Sri Lanka v India, 4th ODI, Colombo : Who Said What

Following the general theme of the Indian tour of Sri Lanka, the 4th ODI was yet another one-sided affair with India dominating in all departments of the game. For a change, India opted to bat first on a batsman’s paradise as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma made merry of the playing conditions.

Both batsmen brought up their respective tons and forged a match winning partnership of almost 220 runs at the rate of knots. India, at one one point of time, was looking at a target of over 400 before Sri Lanka managed to pick up four wickets at quick intervals. In the process, Lasith Malinga picked up his 300th scalp in ODIs.

MS Dhoni and Manish Pandey delivered the knockout punch in the end as they notched up a partnership of 100 runs in 70 odd balls. Pandey went on to score a priceless half century in 42 balls as India posted a daunting total of 375 in front of the hosts.

Sri Lankans started off on the wrong foot as they lost few early wickets. Angelo Matthews, Milinda Siriwardena and Hasaranga tried to offer some resistance to the Indian bowlers who were clinical in their performance as they dismissed the home side within 43rd over.

Bumrah, Yadav and Pandya picked up a couple of wickets each while the debutant was the pick of the bowlers who was sensational with the new ball. India won the match by a colossal margin of 168 runs and took a 4-0 lead in the series. Virat Kohli was awarded as the man of the match for his superlative innings.

Virat Kohli

MoM Virat Kohli wanted his team not to be overconfident and desired yet another clinical performance from them. As a result, he termed the entire performance of the team as ‘satisfying’.

It was a good game for us. We spoke about not getting complacent and today was a satisfying day. We wanted to bat first, the wicket was amazing to bat on. It was a good toss to win and it was very difficult for the opposition to maintain that required run rate. The batting order can be flexible

Lasith Malinga

Even though it was a special day for Malinga personally, but the Sri Lankan stand-in skipper appeared distraught with his recent performance with the ball. He hoped for a better performance from the youngsters of the team in the coming matches.

300 wicket is special. But, it is just a number. I feel these last few days, I’m not doing well for the team. Still lost the game and that doesn’t feel good. We are still to get 250 in the series, I think the youngsters are too excited and couldn’t perform well to their potential. Hopefully, they will come back strong and perform well in the coming games.