5th odi and only t-20 vs SL

India Vs Sri Lanka ODI Series, the 5th and the final ODI Played at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, India winning the toss and electing to bat, this match saw some changes in the Indian line up with Sehwag been rested and Rahane taking his place as the opener. Indians lost the wicket of Rahane early for nine runs and Kohli at No.3 this time did not make much impact, he too lost his wicket for 23 runs, but Gauti looked solid at the other end. Rohit Sharma’s poor run continued in the 5th and the final odi as well as he lost his wicket for just 4 runs. It was the time when Manoj Tiwary Joined Gautam Gambhir and they both added 110 for the fourth wicket, Manoj Tiwary scored a well made 65 before he was dismissed by Malinga, followed by Raina for a duck Indians struggled a bit at 5/197, it was the time when the Indian Captain joined Gambhir. In the mean time Gambhir brought his yet another half century and continued his good run against the sri lankans, when the things were just going on well for India, Gambhir lost his wicket for 88. Dhoni made a quick fire 58 of 38 balls and a healthy contribution from Pathan took the Indian score card to 294/7. Needing 295 to win, the lankans lost the wicket of Dilshan for a duck, though Tharanga was quick in making runs, he was not able to carry on and lost his wicket as well. It was Irfan Pathan on both the occasion. Both Chandimal and Mathews failed to make big scores. It was Thirimanne and Jeevan Mendis, the pair added 102 for the sixth wicket partnership and things looked certain for sri lanka and they were marching towards a consolation win before Thirimanne was run out for a well made 77 and in no time the home team started losing wickets and the Indians we spot on taking wickets at the regular intervals, though the run rate needed was 5 per over, the sri lankans have lost all their wickets for 274 in 45.4 overs. India winning the match comfortably by 20 runs. Jeevan Mendis and Thirimanne were the star performers for the lankans making 72 and 77 respectively. For the Indians it was Irfan Pathan bagging the man of the match award for his second 5 wicket haul, he took 5/61 in his 10 overs. India won the odi series 4-1. The Only T20 - Played at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Sri Lanka winning the toss and opting to bowl, India did lose the wicket of Gambhir early on, but Virat Kohli was in genuine touch,he was stroking the ball so well and at the point of time, almost every ball he faced, that touched the boundary ropes and he brought his highest runs in t-20 intl making a match winning 68 of 48 ball that included 11 4’s and a six. Raina as usual down the order contributed a quick fire unbeaten 34 along with the captain Dhoni scoring an unbeaten 16 and the Indians batting first managed to score 155 in their 20 overs. Needed 156 to win, The Lankans once again lost the wicket of Dilshan again for a duck, though Mahela was in good touch, Pathan was too good in removing the top three in quick time. Angelo’s 31 was the top score for the Lankans. All together the home team managed to score only 116 in 18 overs. Dinda was the stand out bowler for India picking 4 wickets for 19 runs, but once again it was Pathan adjudged man of the match for his brilliancy in swinging the ball early on and removing the top order that ensured a win for India in the t-20 game as well. Over all India had a good series with a complete domination over the lankans.

Thrid and fourth odi Vs SL

The third ODI: At Colombo, saw the Sri Lankans winning the toss and opting to bat. The openers Dilshan and Tharanga who scored 50’s in their last game failed to provide a good start in the third odi, with Zaheer Khan and Pathan removing the sri lankan top order for just 20 runs on the board, time for Mahela and Sangakkara to do some rescue work. They both batted brilliantly and both came up with the half centuries and took the score till 141 before mahela was out for a well made 65 and once India got the break through they soon found to get another one, the wicket of Sangakkara for 73. Angelo Mathews and Jeevan mendis took the sri lankan score to 286, with a quick fire 71 from the sri lankan all rounder. Zaheer was the stand out bowler for India picking up 2 wickets for 39 runs in 10 overs. When India chased, Sehwag was too early to fall for just three runs and it was once again upto Gambhir and Kohli, the duo added 105 before Kohli lost his wicket for a well made 38, as Dhoni promoted himself up the order things got slowed down for India, Dhoni too lost his wicket on the very first ball of the batting power play followed by Rohit Sharma the very next ball for a duck, Malinga it was doing the honors on both the occasions. Gambhir stood firm and brought his 11th odi ton before he was run out for a well made 102 of 101 balls. Raina and Pathan took Indian run chase from there and proved the depth of Indian batting line up and won the match. Raina scored an Unbeaten 65 and Pathan remained unbeaten on 34. Raina was declared Man of the match for his brilliant match saving knock till the end. India now lead 2-1 after this match The fourth Odi : At Colombo, saw the Sri Lankans again winning the toss and opting to bat. This match had a smart move by Dhoni, with Rohit Sharma already struggling to get his form and there were news that he should be replaced by Manoj Tiwary, he made both of them play in the fourth ODI. As the Sri Lankan openers gave a steady start, things certainly looked like they would put up a huge score in the board,but the indian bowlers fought back really well and Manoj Tiway was truly amazing, he picked up four wickets giving away just 61 runs in his 10 overs and all together Indian bowlers managed to keep the sri lankan score card for just 251 runs, apart from top order batsmen there was not any big contributions made by the Sri Lankan batsmen. Indians coming into the chase, lost the wicket of Gambhir early on for a duck. Sehwag and Kohli added 50 plus for the third wicket before sehwag was dismissed for 34 and Rohit still struggling to get runs was out for 4,followed by Tiwary, did not last long and was out for 21. Raina and Kohli the future of Indian batting line up put on a unbeaten 146 run partnership, in between this partnership Kohli brought up his 13th odi ton in just 86 matches followed by AB who did that in 121 matches and Raina too brought his half century and India winning this match along with the 5 match odi series as well. Virat Kohli was the man of the match for his unbeaten 128. It’s 3-1 with more one match to go in this series.