Series in the bag and a demoralised Sri Lanka at their disposal, India will be hoping to sign off on a winning note in the fifth and final ODI here on Sunday.With the fate of the series sealed at Eden Gardens and holiday spirit in the air, players from both sides would have to find some motivation for Sunday's tie which has been rendered of mere academic interest.Leading the Indian side in absence of regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni - who served a two-match ban - Virender Sehwag wanted to seal the issue in Kolkata itself for he was not sure of the track at Ferozeshah Kotla.
Having achieved that, the home side can now let their hair down and experiment with the playing XI.Having missed the last two one dayers, Dhoni is back in the side again, and for him Sunday's match would be a dress rehearsal for the tri-series in Bangladesh next month.Overall for the Indian team, it would be yet another opportunity to assert their superiority over the islanders, who, along with the hosts, would compete in the Bangladesh tri-series.
India's success story in this series has been scripted by the blazing blades of their batsmen and the trend is likely to continue on Sunday. Even in absence of proven match-winners like Dhoni or Yuvraj Singh, India's batting has looked in apple-pie order and the fourth ODI in Kolkata amply displayed the innate strength of the team.At Eden Gardens, Sri Lanka did nearly everything right. The islanders put on 315 on the board and prised out the prize scalps of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar inside 23 runs and could not be faulted for believing they had taken the upper hand in the do-or-die match.
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