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Ravi targets rankings boost

Image: Bopara: Aiming for 4-1 series win in Sri Lanka

Ravi Bopara says England will not take their foot off the gas in their final one-dayer of the series with Sri Lanka.

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Bopara backs England to maintain winning habit

Ravi Bopara says England will not take their foot off the gas in their final one-dayer of the series with Sri Lanka. England sealed a series win with a five-wicket victory in Colombo on Wednesday but Bopara wants the tourists to go on and make it 4-1 when they face the hosts again on Saturday. Speaking in his exclusive skysports.com video diary, Bopara said: "We've adopted a winning habit and it shows with us winning the series with a game to go. "There is no way we will be overly-relaxed for this one; we're going to go hard and we want to get higher up the ICC rankings.

Message

"To do that we've got to beat these guys 4-1 and if we do it sends a message out to all the other teams in the world." Bopara was delighted with England's display in Colombo but was also pleased to see the back of the wickets in Dambulla. "The pitch was a lot more consistent - Dambulla was a little bit two-paced and the bounce varied as well - but here was a lot flatter wicket. "Even though I did not bat on it, I bowled on it and the way the ball came on in the first 10 overs it looked flat but it just showed the way we are bowling. I don't think it was a 211 pitch; I think it was a minimum of 230-240. Bopara was also swift to give praise to England's front-line bowlers who gave the platform for Kevin Pietersen and Alistair Cook to set up the victory charge. "The bowlers have been unbelievable and have set the tone for the whole series. Then our batting came together in a big game and KP (Pietersen) is a big match player and showed it when it mattered."

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