5th ODI: India eye another home series victory against the WI

Thiruvananthapuram: On Thursday evening India will play the final ODI, the men in blue eyeing another home series triumph against the West Indies. 

A victory in the fifth and penultimate ODI will ensure India maintain their unbeaten run since the reverse against South Africa in 2015.

Leading 2-1 in the five-match series that also witnessed a tie. Recently, Virat Kohli's men bounced back from the loss in the third match at Pune to record a massive 224-run win at Mumbai. The home team will hope to carry forward the thrust into the series decider in the Southern city. 

The last ODI played here was also between the two teams and was won by the Jason Holder's men. The visiting team will look to seek inspiration from their memorable predecessors and level the series. The series being the first in the run-up to the 50-overs World Cup in England to be held in June next year, the two teams are more or less aiming to zero in on the combination for the showpiece.

Though Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been in excellent form, scoring three and two centuries respectively, Ambati Rayudu, backed by the skipper, has also been among the runs.

The other batsmen haven't quite had the bang they would have liked to. Shikhar Dhawan has not capitalized on the beginning while expert Mahendra Singh Dhoni has found runs hard to come by. Dhoni stands on the cusp of a milestone, needing one run to reach the 10,000 mark in India colours, he has scored 124 runs for Asia XI.

Comeback of Jasprit Bumrah has added value to the team and he proved his worth in the two games he has played. Young Khaleel Ahmed showed he's learning with a remarkable spell at the Brabourne Stadium.

The final ODI, the second international game is to be played at the new Greenfield stadium in the city. It is expected to draw a full house but the weather holds the key as showers are predicted according to the weather report. 

The match is scheduled to start at 1.30 P.M. IST.