14 November,2014 08:36 AM IST | | Hormaz Fatakia
Donning the national colours again after a three-month injury break, Rohit Sharma was in sublime form as he notched up his second ODI double hundred and becoming the only batsman to do so
The only thing to write about India's batting apart from the woeful display in the field by the Lankans was Rohit Sharma. Donning the national colours again after a three-month injury break, Rohit Sharma was in sublime form as he notched up his second ODI double hundred and becoming the only batsman to do so. He hit a record 33 boundaries and nine sixes and was finally out on the final ball of the innings, not before he scored a breathtaking 264 of 173 balls.
Rohit Sharma celebrates his double century at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata yesterday
Listless Lanka
After every defeat, Sri Lanka decides to put up a fight in the next game. Unfortunately, it just ends up getting worse for them. They were batted out of the game, bowling was below par and the fielding was horrendous. Thisara Perera dropped RohitSharma when he was on four, and he went onto score another 260 runs. He was also dropped twice more on 201 and 226. None of the Lankan bowlers looked to show some spine asRohit Sharma carted them around the park with effortless ease.
Fast bowlers make a case
If it was Mohammad Shami against the West Indies in a truncated series (Picked 10 wickets in three games), this series has belonged to Umesh Yadav. Other pacers have looked good in patches but Yadav has been the consistent (10 wickets in four games so far). Moreover, he has provided India with the early breakthrough in every game. This has put the Indian pace attack in good stead before a long tour to Australia finally culminating with the World Cup.
Dhawal's strong return
After having a disappointing last game, Dhawal Kulkarni had to make amends for his performance. After bowling a wicketlessfirst spell, Dhawal came back during the batting power play to pick up four wickets in just two overs and conceding only one run. He finally finished with his career best figures of 10-1-34-4. His final spell read 4-1-3-4.
Batting Powerplay blues
Sri Lanka's batting powerplay woes went from bad to worse in the fourth ODI. This has been the stage when every match has slipped out of their hands. After having conceded 57 runs without picking up any wicket when India batted, the Lankans lost four wickets and scored only 30 runs in the batting powerplay.
