MATCH: India v England 5th ODI
DATE: Tuesday, October 25, 2011
TIME: 1430 hours local (0930 hours GMT)
VENUE: Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
With four successive wins, India will look to send England home without a win as the two sides meet in the fifth and the final game of the series at Kolkata.
Past Record:
If there was ever any doubt that India (4/7 at
Boylesports) were looking for a whitewash to avenge their losses in England, MS Dhoni’s reaction after he hit the winning stroke in the third game wiped them off. In the fourth game yesterday, India went on to chase down 221 for a win with the ease that they had exhibited in the previous encounters. They won with six wickets and 10 overs to spare.
England are 6/4 (
BetFred) to salvage some pride from the series.
Team News:
England made a couple of changes to their side in the fourth ODI, none of which involved the recall of Ian Bell to the playing 11. At least one of the selections was a surprise, Graeme Swann making way for Scott Borthwick, but that can probably be attributed to a rotation policy made for a dead rubber. On the other hand, the Jade Dernbach-Stuart Meaker swap was on expected lines.
Still, barring the spell from Steve Finn, the English bowling continued to understand the nuances of bowling in the Indian conditions. On a track that spun from the very beginning, the absence of Swann was always going to be felt. And it did, especially when the pair of Suresh Raina (5/1 at
Boylesports) and Virat Kohli (7/2 at
Boylesports) were making the batting look ridiculously easy.
For the first time in four games, England raced away to a quick start with the bat thanks to Craig Kieswetter (11/2 at
Stan James). And then plummeted against their usual nemesis, slow bowling. Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin bowled 20 overs for 79 runs – 15 of these came off the first five balls – and scalped five wickets between them. How the English top-order handle spin in India has always been a deciding factor and it would be the same for the fifth game at the Eden Gardens.
India, on the other hand, followed a similar script as well in the previous match. Parthiv Patel missed out on another opportunity to impress with the bat, while the side lost Ajinkya Rahane and Gautam Gambhir in quick succession but that was as far as the English bowling went on dislodging the opposition.
Raina, who hadn’t had too much time at the crease before the fourth match, would be the one big positive coming out of the game. He will look to continue batting in a similar vein. India may also look to play Manoj Tiwary, pushing him into the middle-order with Gambhir to open the innings with Rahane.
Players to look out for
Just when England looked to be getting away towards the end of the innings in the fourth ODI, Varun Aaron brought a halt to their proceedings with a three-wicket haul. England will look to take him on. Finn’s bowling pegged India back and he will be the player to watch out for.
Prediction:
It is difficult to see India lose this one.
