India vs Australia, 5th ODI: Statistical Preview

IANS

New Delhi: Australia did pull off a stunner in the fourth one-day international match against India, but the series still lies in favour of the Men in Blue. And on Sunday, Virat Kohli and his men would aim to finish off the series on a high when the two meet for fifth and final ODI match at Nagpur.

After three consecutive victories on the trot, Kohli-led Team India were on the verge of scripting history. A win in Bengaluru would make them the first Indian side to win 10 successive ODI matches with Kohli surpassing MS Dhoni's record of nine.

Alas! David Warner curled a whirlwind of boundaries with the willow to notch up a ton in his 100th ODI game while the Aussie pacers scripted a late fightback to shut down the Indian uproar at home. Although the series is still in favour of the home team, it was a morale boost for the team from down under who scalped their first ODI victory on foreign soil after 12 matches.

So just one last game left in the series, can India win and once again go atop on the ICC ODI Team rankings or will they stutter in Nagpur as Aussies finish off things 2-3 in the series? Either way, Indians have already bagged the trophy.

Here are the statistics in line for the fifth and final ODI match between India and Australia in Nagpur on Sunday...

1) A win in Nagpur can help Team India once again climb atop on the ICC ODI Team rankings finishing off the series 4-1. However, they need to

2) India have a 50 per cent winning record at the VCA Stadium, Nagpur. Out of four matches that the Men in Blue have played at the venue, they bagged victories twice, both against Australia; and lost two – Sri Lanka and South Africa. While for Steve Smith's men, they managed to win just one out of the three matches they have played in Nagpur – against New Zealand, during the 2011 World Cup.

3) Nagpur track has been a high-scoring zone for cricket teams, ergo another massive 300-plus target won't sound surprising at VCA Stadium. Well, if India can get 350-plus as a target for the Aussies, then they will go past South Africa to sit atop with 25 such totals.

4) Like Chennai track, Nagpur too has been a favourite pitch for Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Playing four ODIs at VCA Stadium, he already has two centuries to his name, with his knock of 124 against the team from Down Under back in 2009 being the second highest at the venue.

5) India skipper Kohli needs one more century to surpass Ricky Ponting's tally of 30 ODI tons. He would thereby stand second on the all-time list behind Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar (49).

6) Adding to the above one, another ODI ton would help him equal Ponting's record of 13 ODI hundreds at home. Leading the chart is Sachin, with 20 such knocks.

7) Opener Rohit Sharma is 92 runs short of 6000 ODI runs. If he can manage to breach the mark within the next five innings then he would become the third fastest Indian batsman after Kohli (136) and Sourav Ganguly (147) to do so. Overall, he will be the ninth Indian batsman to reach the milestone.

8) James Faulkner is four wickets short of claiming 100th ODI wickets. He would be the 17th Aussie to achieve it. He also has 1000 ODI runs to his name, ergo a double would make him the third Australia to achieve the mark.

9) Hardik Pandya needs three more wickets to reach the mark of 50 international wickets.

10) Umesh Yadav, if given a green signal on Sunday by Kohli, would be making his debut in front of his home crowd.