IND vs SL 2017: Spinners and Shikhar Dhawan Guide India to a Comprehensive Series Victory

India won the third and final ODI of the series against Sri Lanka in Vizag by eight wickets and clinched the series 2-1. India scripted a fabulous comeback in the series as they won the second and third ODI of the series after losing the first ODI in Dharamsala by a huge margin.

In the third ODI, India won the toss and chose to bowl first in the third and final ODI of the series in Vizag. India made one change to their squad with Kuldeep Yadav coming in place of Washington Sundar. Sri Lanka also made one change to their side with Sadeera Samarawickrama replacing Lahiru Thirimanne. Upul Tharanga and Sadeera steadied the Sri Lankan ship after an early hiccup of the dismissal of Gunathilaka. The two were involved in a 121 runs partnership before Sadeera was dismissed for 42.

Next to fall was Upul Tharanga who fell short of a well deserved century by five runs as he was stumped off the delivery of Kuldeep Yadav and was dismissed for 95. Centurion in the second ODI, Angelo Matthews came couldn’t repeat his innings of second ODI and was dismissed for just 17. Tharanga’s dismissal sparked a collapse for the Sri Lankan team as they lost their last eight wickets for just 55 runs as they were dismissed for just 215 in 44.5 overs.

For India, the spinners did pretty well in conditions suitable for their kind of bowlers as both of them picked up three wickets each and gave away 88 runs combined. All-rounder, Hardik Pandya was expensive at the beginning of his spell as Sadeera and Tharanga attacked him. Tharanga hit five consecutive boundaries in an over of his bowling. However, he pulled things back and gave away just 49 runs and picked two wickets in his quota of 10 overs. Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar picked up a wicket each.

While batting, a double centurion in the second ODI Rohit Sharma, failed in the third match as he was dismissed for just seven. Shreyas Iyer and Shikhar Dhawan continued their good form in the third ODI as well. Iyer scored his second consecutive half-century as he scored 65 off 63 deliveries. His innings consisted eight fours and a six. Dhawan scored his 12^th ODI century and guided India to a comfortable victory.

For Sri Lanka, Akila Dhananjaya and Thisara Perera picked up a wicket each as India achieved the target in 32.1 overs.