India vs. Sri Lanka 4th ODI: Date, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview
India and Sri Lanka meet in the fourth one-day international of their five-game series on Thursday, with the hosts carrying an unassailable 3-0 lead.
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Commences: Thursday, Nov. 13
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Start time: 8 a.m. GMT (1:30 p.m. local)
Live on: Star Sports (India), CSN Network (Sri Lanka), Orbit Show Network (Middle East), Ten Sports (Caribbean), Sky Sports (New Zealand), Geo Super and PTV Sports (Pakistan), SuperSport (South Africa), Sky Sports (United Kingdom), Willow TV (USA), Fox Sports (Australia).
Weather: The Weather Channel is forecasting a fine and mostly sunny day, with the top temperature set to reach 33 degrees Celsius in the afternoon.
Overview
There may come a time when India's batting dominance in Asia subsides, but that time certainly doesn't feel as though it's now.
Fresh from yet another comprehensive victory over Sri Lanka, India will be confidently eyeing a fourth consecutive triumph in Kolkata on Thursday, with the visitors appearing powerless to stop an outfit that currently looks superior in every department.
After crunching a mammoth total in the series opener, Virat Kohli's side cruised to the targets set by the Sri Lankans in the second and third games with sumptuous ease to continue their staggering record when chasing on Asian soil.
At present, there can't be a better top six in the 50-over game than that belonging to India.
And it's that issue that's the major problem for Sri Lanka, who haven't been able to conjure totals of their own that are capable of pushing the hosts out of their comfort zone.
Until they do, the same script will unfold.
Squads
India
Virat Kohli (c), Ravichandran Ashwin, Stuart Binny, Shikhar Dhawan, Kedar Jadhav, Dhawal Kulkarni Akshar Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Karn Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa (wk), Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav
Sri Lanka
Angelo Mathews (c) Chaturanga de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Lahiru Gamage, Mahela Jayawardene, Lahiru Thirimanne, Nuwan Kulasekara, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Shaminda Eranga, Seekkuge Prasanna, Ashan Priyanjan, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Ajantha Mendis
Key Players
India
With consecutive scores of 113, 79 and 91, Shikhar Dhawan has proved to be the decisive figure in this lopsided series thus far.
Consistently propelling India to blistering starts, the aggressive left-hander has quickly taken all three games away from Sri Lanka with his excellence at the top of the order.
Unless the visitors can halt his dominance, India will march to a fourth consecutive victory.
Sri Lanka
To counter the form of Shikhar Dhawan, Sri Lanka need their own left-handed opener, Kusal Perera, to start inflicting some of the damage he's capable of.
With a style so reminiscent to that of Sanath Jayasuriya, Perera is the man who must find a way to break Sri Lanka's malaise with the bat and propel them to a competitive total.
And with Kumar Sangakkara rested for the final two matches, the pressure on others such as Perera to fill the void will only increase.
Prediction
If you're going to match it with India in the 50-over game in their own surrounds, you better come prepared.
Quite simply, Sri Lanka haven't.
Looking rusty, out of sorts and completely devoid of answers, Angelo Mathews' men appear to be at a point where they need India to have a bad day for them to be competitive.
Given the hosts' current form, that seems unlikely. Yet another victory awaits them on Thursday.
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