Sri Lanka end their 9-year wait | India vs Sri Lanka 3rd ODI Review

 

Upon entering the 3rd ODI match, everyone knew that the stakes were high as both the teams wanted to secure the win. For India, the win meant clean sweeping their opponents 3-0 in prime fashion and continuing the 9-year old legacy of not losing to Sri Lanka at their home turf; whereas for Sri Lanka, it was an opportunity to seek vengeance, after they dropped the metaphrical ball in the 2nd ODI and finally getting over the rough patch they've been having in recent times. The series finale between India and Sri Lanka, despite being ridiculed by rain, was an absolute barn burner of a contest with both sides fighting tooth and nail till their last breath. The match itself was a fascinating tale of new beginnings, returns, batting collapses, spin supremacy and some nail biting action. How did it all unfold? Read the full article to find out just how.

Playing XI:

India: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prithvi Shaw, Sanju Samson (wk), Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Krishnappa Gowtham, Rahul Chahar, Chetan Sakariya, Navdeep Saini. 

Sri Lanka: Avishka Fernando, Minod Bhanuka (wk), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka (c), Ramesh Mendis, Chamika Karunaratne, Akila Dhananjaya, Dushmantha Chameera, Praveen Jayawickrama.

India Innings: India's batting collapses post rain break

After the usual aggressive start to their innings courtesy of the Shikhar-Shaw pair, Sri Lanka struck back with a wicket as Chameera dismissed the in form batsman Shikhar for 11. Debutant Sanju Samson and Prithvi Shaw took the innings forward with the latter spearheading the attack with some captivating boundaries. They put up a healthy 74-run partnership before Shaw was dismissed by Shanaka for 49, missing his half-century by just a run. Samson was soon dismissed for a runner-ball 46 as well, as India had two new batsmen in the crease in the form of Suryakumar Yadav and Manish Pandey being 118-3. The duo looked comfortable in the crease with the former amazing the audience watching at home with his 360° shots before rain interrupted the play. After an hour of absence, the players marched out to the field but this time things were different. The ball began spinning to a great extent as this added extra leverage to the already stacked Sri Lankan spin attack. Spinners Jayawickrama and Akila Dhananjaya tightly held the game, picking up 6 wickets between themselves and not letting the oppostion to really make a move. As a result of which, India went from cruising at 157-3 to being stuck in the middle of nowhere at 195-8 in no time with Suryakumar (40), Pandey (11), Hardik (17) and debutant Nitish Rana (7) all back in the pavilion. The tail enders could only add a handful of runs to the tally as India was bowled out for 225 in the now revised 47-over per side match. 

Sri Lanka Innings: Rajapaksa and Fernando help secure Sri Lanka the win

Despite losing wicket-keeper Minod Bhanuka early for 7, Sri Lanka's innings was brought back on track by Avishka Fernando and Bhanuka Rajapaksa. The duo's free flowing shots gave Sri Lanka the perfect foundation to build their innings forward as they were firing on all cylinders. They put up a massive 109-run stand before India's young sensation Chetan Sakariya finally gave the visitors a much needed breakthrough as he dismissed Rajapaksa for 65(56) as SL was looking dangerous at 144-2 in 23 overs. The Indian bowlers struck back again, dismissing de Silva (2), Asalanka (24), Shanaka (0) and most importantly Fernando for 76, as the Lankan lower middle order seemed to be lost in the shuffle. Suddenly India had a ray of hope ahead of them, having Sri Lanka on its knees at 195-5. A few wickets here and there would've sealed the deal in a massive turnaround of events for the visitors but that little flurry of offence was too little too late. Ramesh Mendis (15*) stood by at one end and made sure the hosts got the win with 3 wickets in hand and end the series on a high. Debutant Rahul Chahar was the pick of the bowlers for India with his magnificent spell of 10-0-54-3 while another debutant Chetan Sakariya grabbed a brace as well.

Player of the Match: Avishka Fernando (76 runs off 98 balls)

Conclusion: India debuted 5 new faces in this game with the hopes of giving them a taste of the International exposure and as far as I'm concerned, it was obviously the right choice, despite the result of the game. The match was directed towards building the future set of cricketers who'll represent the country in the years to come and they most certainly delivered upon their promises. Not all things are rosy in the Indian camp right now as following a string of low scores and inconsistent performances, I think this is the end of the road for veteran batsman Manish Pandey; as far as ODIs are concerned. With the availability of batsmen like Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul in the middle order, having Manish Pandey be a part of the team would be an added liability. Sri Lanka on the other hand, must be finally relieved after winning a much deserved match as they were the better team in the contest. They'd hope to repeat the results in the iT20 series ahead as the 3 Matches promise to be must watch for experts and fans alike.

Player of the Series: Suryakumar Yadav (31*, 53, 40)

Ladies and Gentlemen, the winners of the Unacademy India vs Sri Lanka ODI Series, Team India!