Sri Lanka v India, 5th ODI – Match Result Predictions

The final match of the ODI series between Sri Lanka and India will be played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The visitors have completely dominated the 4 games so far and the hosts just haven’t been able to match the might of India. In the final ODI as well, the Virat Kohli-led side will be ruthless and will leave no stones unturned in trying to enforce a clean sweep.

The last match just summarized the whole tour. India ran away with the game in the early stages itself and Sri Lanka were just on the ground, waiting for the match to end. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli scored superlative hundreds to set up a huge total of 375 to which the Lasith Malinga & Co. didn’t even attempt to chase down. The final ODI is expected to be the same with India clinching back to back whitewashes on the tour.

Here is what Crictracker predicts for the game:

Scenario 1: Sri Lanka wins the toss

Toss prediction: Sri Lanka will choose to bat first

First innings score prediction: 240-250

Result prediction: India will win the match by 6 wickets

Scenario 2: India wins the toss

Toss prediction: India will choose to bat first

Result prediction: India will win the match by more than 60 runs

Head to Head Record

Overall: Total Matches – 160, India Won – 87, Sri Lanka Won – 55, No Result/Tied – 18

Matches in Sri Lanka: Total Matches – 66, India Won – 27, Sri Lanka Won – 27, No Result/Tied – 12

The head to head record in the Island nation is now level with India winning 4 games in a row. They are in a great position to take a lead by winning the final ODI and stamp an authority on the neighbors as they have done in the overall record.

Playing Combinations:

Sri Lanka

The home side will see the return of the regular skipper Upul Tharanga after the 2 match ban. The debutant opener Dilshan Munaweera is expected to make way for him. The other batsmen Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Mendis and Lahiru Thirimanne have played decently on occasions but those were not good enough. Angelo Mathews scored a half-century in the last game but all it did was delayed the inevitable.

Lasith Malinga picked up his 300th ODI wicket in the last game but that was the sole bright spot in his debut match as the skipper of the ODI side. Angelo Mathews troubled the Indian batsmen a little but the inefficiency of others didn’t pose any threat whatsoever. Akila Dananjaya’s mystery also seems to have been solved by the opponents and he too is not doing a great damage.

Predicted XI: Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Upul Tharanga (c), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Akila Dananjaya, Lasith Malinga, Lakshan Sandakan, Milinda Siriwardana, Vishwa Fernando

India

The opener Shikhar Dhawan won’t take any further part on the tour as he set to travel back to the country to attend her ailing mother. Ajinkya Rahane will replace him and would love to pounce on the opportunity. Rest of the side is expected to be the same and there could be a few experimentations in the batting order. The likes of Manish Pandey and MS Dhoni could be promoted up the order to spend more time in the middle.

The bowlers once again did a mighty fine job in the last game. Where Jasprit Bumrah kept piling on the wickets, the debutant Shardul Thakur caught the eyes with his raw pace. The spinners were effective as usual but they would want to put in the defining spell as the regular spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja could be called back for the Australia series.

Predicted XI: Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma (vc), Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (wk), KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah

India are the firm favorites to fetch another clean sweep and it should happen unless the hosts pull off a dramatic performance.

The prediction says India would end up winning the series 5-0.

Do let us know your predictions in the comments section below.