Watch video highlights of Ind vs sl, 4th odi to be played at colombo 2009. India allready up in the series is 3-0 will be looking to give rest to some players and might ask to play some juniors.
ndia marched to their longest winning streak - nine matches - with a comprehensive win that pushed Sri Lanka further towards their first 5-0 ODI whitewash. The victory was built around Gautam Gambhir's personal best and Mahendra Singh Dhoni's 94 at No. 3, innings that helped set Sri Lanka a target of 333, 62 more than the highest-ever chased at the Premadasa Stadium. Sri Lanka hit the ground running at the start of their chase but Praveen Kumar and Pragyan Ojha eventually choked off the run supply.
The toss was won yet again by Dhoni, his ninth success in ten games against Sri Lanka, and it proved crucial as Ojha and the part-timers looked more effective under lights than even Muttiah Muralitharan did in the first half of the match. Murali did break the record for the most wickets in ODIs but his landmark victim, Gambhir, had scored 150 by then.
The toss was not the only correct call Dhoni made today. He promoted himself to No. 3 for the first time as captain after the early dismissal of Virender Sehwag. The last time he went in at No. 3, against Bangladesh, Dhoni had added 87 with Gambhir, who scored his second ODI century. Dhoni missed a hundred today after adding 188 with Gambhir, but maintained his superlative record at one-drop. Gambhir went on to make the highest individual score in Sri Lanka.
The total of 332 was achieved only after a difficult start. The pitch at the R Premadasa offered some movement with the new ball and Farveez Maharoof and Nuwan Kulasekara troubled the openers.
After Sehwag's fall - to a sharp catch by Sanath Jayasuriya at mid-off that was about the only moment of inspiration in the field - Gambhir and Dhoni were not given easy offerings. India hit only five boundaries in the first 14 overs and Gambhir had to step out and loft to break the shackles.
In the absence of boundaries, Gambhir and Dhoni ran with ferocity and the kind of understanding that Gambhir and Sehwag demonstrate. The Sri Lankan fielding wilted under the pressure, managing three misfields, not backing up well twice, and allowing too many twos in the outfield. The batsmen were alert to every opportunity, even running overthrows to ricochets off the stumps. Between them, Dhoni and Gambhir took 25 twos and five threes. Dhoni and Gambhir stepped up the pace when Mahela Jayawardene turned to his fourth and fifth bowlers. In back-to-back overs, Gambhir hit Angelo Mathews for a six to bring up his half-century and Dhoni treated Muttiah Muralitharan similarly to reach his. Dhoni looked for another higher gear but top-edged Jayasuriya to short third man when he was six short of his century.
Following the loss of three quick wickets, Gambhir switched from steady accumulator to ruthless hitter. He was on 87 off 98 balls when Yusuf got out, but scored 63 off the next 49. Along with Gambhir, Suresh Raina kept finding the gaps and India scored 97 in the last 12 overs.
Facing a daunting target, Sri Lanka's best chance was for Tillakaratne Dilshan and Jayasuriya to take on India's new-ball attack of Praveen Kumar and Irfan Pathan. They got off to a blazing start but the weight of the required run-rate was too much and both batsmen fell trying to manufacture shots. Kumar Sangakkara scored an impressive half-century but with wickets falling at the other end, he did not have it easy.
Cricket Highlights India vs Srilanka 4th ODI
Indian Batting Part 1
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