MSD aims for fifth straight win

MSD aims for fifth straight win

India will aim for a 7-0 whitewash in the one-day series against England as they go into the fifth game in Cuttack on Wednesday.

Indian skipper MS Dhoni would also want to give some of the bench players the chance to prove their worth.

The hosts have taken an unassailable 4-0 lead but Mahendra Singh Dhoni's bravehearts are not likely to show any mercy on the visitors in the day-night contest at the Barabati stadium.

Outplayed, outpaced and out-thought, England ran for covers in all the four matches they lost though they were a trifle unlucky when Duckworth and Lewis method favoured the hosts twice.

England will play to salvage some pride, trying to start it afresh here while for India it will be time for some experiments as they plan to give an opportunity to the reserve players, who have not played a single match yet.

Delhi's Virat Kohli is expected to get a berth in the playing eleven, having played his last ODI at Dambulla in Sri Lanka series.

Replaced with Rudra Pratap Singh, Irfan Pathan is also tipped for a comeback while Pragyan Ojha will be relishing at the prospect of getting a call to bowl his left-arm spin against the English batsmen on his home ground.

With seven victories in their last eight one-dayers -- three against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka and four against the visitors, Dhoni has done nothing wrong so far.

Enjoying a success percentage of 57.50 -- the best among Indians who have captained in minimum of 40 ODIs -- both luck and pluck have been on Dhoni's side. Right from the first ODI on the batting-friendly wicket of Madhavrao Scindia ground in Rajkot where the Indian top-order, powered by an unbeaten 138 by Yuvraj Singh, deflated the hapless English attack, the hosts have outdone Pietersen and his men in every department.

At Indore too, India's batting ruled the roost recovering from an early shudder with Yuvraj Singh turning out to be England's nemesis, scoring his century No. 2 on the trot.

Failed to pace up with the required run-rate, England batting again collapsed though their middle order this time proved to be little more defiant.

With elements taking the match away from England at Green Park, the Kanpur memories in the third ODI still gives a jarring effect to Pietersen where his team was scuppered by bad light.

And at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore where India sealed the series, Pietersen was out-thought by Dhoni and company as the English captain's muddled thinking looked exposed.

Sticking to their rather sluggish pair of Bopara and Bell, and sending the powerful Flintoff at No. 4, England yet again failed to get a good start, even when the match demanded a Twenty20 style approach.

The over reliance on Andrew Flintoff has gone the other way, as the former England captain, who led the side during their tour two years ago, looks a pale shadow of himself.

Teams (from) India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan and Pragyan Ojha

England: Kevin Pietersen (Captain), Ian Bell, Matt Prior, Owais Shah, Andrew Flintoff, Paul Collingwood, Ravi Bopara, Samit Patel, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann and Steve Harmison

Umpires: Darel Harper, Amish Saheba; TV: SK Tarapore;

Match Referee: Roshan Mahanama

Match starts: 2.30 pm.


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