India look to cap off successful year with clean sweep over Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, would look to make India pay for their sloppy fielding before they sign off from the tour
Vishal Dikshit
29-Dec-2025 • 9 hrs ago
India have been dominant through the series despite some sloppy fielding • BCCI
Big picture - Can Sri Lanka challenge India one final time?
After three low scores, three tosses lost and three heavy defeats, Sri Lanka gave hosts India more of a fight in the fourth T20I on Sunday when they finally got to chase a target instead of setting one. They got somewhat close thanks to contribution from batters apart from Chamari Athapaththu. With their confidence running a little higher, they would want to sign off from this five-match tour with one win as the preparations for the T20 World Cup, which is less than six months away, heat up.
India have been clinical all through the series - with their share of luck, having won the first three tosses - in restricting Sri Lanka to totals under 130 and getting home with at least five overs and seven wickets in hand. That presents Sri Lanka the opportunity to test India's middle and lower order on Tuesday, but with the gargantuan task of going past the duo of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma, who put up India's biggest partnership for any wicket to set up the hosts' highest T20I total. India have had to use only five batters in this series so far.
Whether they set a total or chase one, Sri Lanka would draw inspiration from Hasini Perera's start on Sunday, in which she took down Renuka Singh and Arundhati Reddy in the opening overs before Nilakshika Silva finally got some runs in the lower order.
Sri Lanka would also want to cash in on any lives their batters are offered as India have been sloppy this series - putting down five catches in the opener and two in the fourth game - which could help the visitors narrow the gap between the two sides.
Form guide
India WWWWL (Last five completed matches, most recent first)
Sri Lanka LLLLL
Sri Lanka LLLLL
In the spotlight: Hasini Perera and Shafali Verma
There are always expectations from Athapaththu when Sri Lanka bat, and it was refreshing to see Hasini Perera take the lead in the opening partnership with her captain on Sunday. It was Perera's penchant for boundaries that charged Sri Lanka to 52 for 0 in the first four overs. Hasini has played nearly 90 T20Is and the last game of the series will be the perfect chance for her to score her maiden T20I half-century that will only increase the faith in her abilities in the lead up to the T20 World Cup.
She has been dismissed just twice this series and Shafali Verma is reaching scary heights in the T20 format with 236 runs already at a strike rate of 185.82 this series. The next best strike rate this series (minimum 50 runs) is Jemimah Rodrigues' 140.54. Shafali has taken down every possible bowling combination Sri Lanka have thrown at her at the start and with three half-centuries in a row, a continuation of her boundary barrage could be another spectacular show from the India opener.
Team news: Has Jemimah Rodrigues recovered?
Rodrigues missed the fourth T20I while recovering from a mild fever and India brought in Harleen Deol for her first game of the series but she didn't get a chance to bat. Already leading 4-0, India may also want to hand a debut to 17-year-old wicketkeeper-batter G Kamalini, the only player in the squad who hasn't played this series.
India (possible): 1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Jemimah Rodrigues/Harleen Deol, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Richa Ghosh/G Kamalini (wk), 6 Deepti Sharma, 7 Amanjot Kaur, 8 Renuka Singh/Arundhati Reddy, 9 Kranti Gaud, 10 Vaishnavi Sharma, 11 Shree Charani
Sri Lanka have been making changes through the series too, and even though they have used up all their players from the squad of 15, don't rule out any more changes on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Chamari Athapaththu (capt), 2 Hasini Perera, 3 Harshitha Samarawickrama, 4 Imesha Dulani, 5 Nilakshika Silva, 6 Kaushini Nuthyangana (wk), 7 Kavisha Dilhari, 8 Kawya Kavindi/Malki Madara, 9 Inoka Ranaweera, 10 Malsha Shehani, 11 Nimasha Meepage
Pitch and conditions
After a record total of 412 runs in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday, the ground could offer more runs on Tuesday. The team winning the toss will be tempted to bowl again, as there was dew on Sunday evening. It's also expected to be pretty humid with temperatures expected to dip to the early 20s.
Stats and trivia
- If India win on Tuesday, this will be their third 5-0 series win in T20Is, after doing the same in the West Indies in 2019 and in Bangladesh last year.
- Sri Lanka have played only three five-match T20I series before, but they haven't lost by 5-0 yet. The closest they came was also against India, who won 4-0 in 2018 after a washout.
- Smriti Mandhana's 1703 runs across formats in 2025 are the most by a woman in a calendar year. If she scores another 62, she will become the leading run-scorer of 2025, across men and women, going past Shubman Gill's tally of 1764.
- After going wicketless in the last game, Deepti Sharma is still one wicket away from becoming the leading wicket-taker in women's T20Is. She is currently level with Megan Schutt on 151.
Vishal Dikshit is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo