The
fifth and final ODI of the Natwest Series is nothing but a cruel formality for
team India because England have already won the series.
All that Team India can do is to try and beat England team at least
once on this tour. They have not been successful to beat them yet. Their highest
achievement was a draw in the fourth ODI which was played at Lord's.
Click for Live Score Card of England Vs India
The fifth ODI will be played at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Friday,
September 16 at 18:30 IST or 13:00 GMT. To beat England, Team India must play
like their fourth ODI where they batted very well and their bowling was competitive.
ICC spirit player of the year skipper Dhoni was led into another controversy when
he did not attend the function to accept the award from the ICC and he will now
need to forget all of that to lead from the front.
He had scored an entertaining unbeaten 78 runs and Suresh Raina also
contributed pretty well scoring 84 runs from75 balls while their opener Patel
and Rahane also stared well as usual but at last it was rain that decided the
result of the match.
It was and tie and the game resumed twice due to unpredictable rain.
This series has been proved the worst nightmare of Indian Cricket Team. They will
try to forget the series as early as possible whatever happens in the fifth ODI
because to be honest the result of the final ODI match will not alter the debacle
of the Men in Blue. They must rethink about their cricket after returning home.
England will be without Stuart Broad, who injured his shoulder and that
will allow Jade Dernbach to make a comeback into the side. Dernbach had
been replaced by Steven Finn in the previous game and that was the reason why
the Indians were able to get going with the runs.
India will be playing for their pride and England will be playing for demolishing
the pride of the World Cup winner though their extremely successful bowler Stuart
Broad will be missing the match due to injury. It will be certainly a tough match
once again but England might get another victory if rain allows them to play a
full match without applying any law to decide the result of the match.
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