India Vs Sri Lanka: Player ratings from the third ODI
The final ODI between Sri Lanka and India in Vishakhapatnam was predicted to be a thrilling and an entertaining match. The Rohit Sharma led team put the Lankans to bat first in the deciding game. Despite getting a good start, the visitors failed to capitalise and ended up collapsing.
Sri Lanka looked very dangerous and intimidating for the first half of the innings as they seemed to be approaching a big total. However, the Indian bowlers made a great comeback by taking key wickets at crucial times to restrict the visitors to a low score.
Let us take a look at how each of them fared:
Sri Lanka:
Danushka Gunathilaka – 4/10
The Sri Lankan opener was unnecessarily aggressive and probably a little restless. He started well, scoring 13 off 12 deliveries but soon lost his wicket to Bumrah as he was caught by the Indian skipper. Sri Lanka would have benefitted if Gunathilaka tried to build a partnership with Upul Tharanga, thereby giving a foundation the rest of the team could utilise.
Upul Tharanga – 9/10
Undoubtedly, he was the best player of the Sri Lankan squad in this match. He was carefully aggressive as he was extremely cautious of losing his wicket but punished any bad balls bowled by the Indian bowlers.
He scored 95 off just 82 deliveries as he hit the 1000 run mark in 2017. The opening batter also smashed 5 fours in a single over bowled by Hardik Pandya. However, he was unlucky to miss out on his century, as he was stumped by MS Dhoni on a stunning delivery bowled by Kuldeep.
Sadeera Samarawickrama – 6.5/10
The 22-year-old played well as he formed a good first wicket partnership with Tharanga. He was patient and rotated the strike well for his 42, as his partner on the other end was playing the role of an attacker. Unfortunately, he couldn’t convert his start into a big score and help Sri Lanka reach a higher total.
Angelo Mathews – 3.5/10
Mathews didn’t have the best of days, especially after coming from a magnificent century at Mohali. In the first innings, he could only score 17 as he was outplayed by a ripper bowled by Chahal. With the ball, he conceded 30 runs in only 3 overs as he was destroyed by the Indian batsmen.
Niroshan Dickwella – 3/10
He came in to bat at a crucial situation after the wicket of Upul Tharanga. Three wickets down, Sri Lanka had to start building a partnership again and would’ve hoped that the wicketkeeper performed. However, Dickwella hit two amazing boundaries and then lost his wicket to Kuldeep as he went for a little late cut straight to Iyer at slip.
Asela Gunaratne – 4.5/10
Gunaratne scored 17 off 51 deliveries as he tried to play out the overs and get the team to a decent total. While batting, the Sri Lankan team was losing wickets rapidly at the other end. He lost his wicket in the 45th over to Bhuvaneshwar Kumar. Apart from this, he bowled 4 overs and gave 30 runs at an economy of 7.5. The all-rounder would’ve hoped for some support from the lower and middle order.
Thisara Perera – 4.5/10
With the bat, Perera was caught in front of the stumps by a good delivery bowled by Chahal. He made a mistake by going back and cut the ball to a legspinners stock delivery. Also, he failed to improvise after going back as the delivery was short enough for him to get some bat on it. With the ball, he bowled 5 overs giving away only 25 runs at a decent economy of 5. The Sri Lankan skipper would’ve hoped for the team to perform better with the bat and probably make some changes before their next series. Keeping that in mind, they were a lot of positives for the captain in this series and he will look forward to playing the T20 series.
Sachith Pathirana – 4/10
The all-rounder didn’t have the best days with the ball, as he conceded 33 runs in the 4 overs that he bowled. With the bat, he could only score 7 runs and wasn’t able to support Gunaratne.
Akila Dananjaya – 5/10
The spinner was asked to form an opening pair with Lakmal and he responded brilliantly by taking the wicket of the Indian skipper. He was hit for 53 runs in 7 overs. With the bat, he was bowled quickly by Kuldeep.
Suranga Lakmal – 7/10
Despite not taking any wickets, Lakmal bowled beautifully as he used the late swinging abilities he possesses along with the perfect line and length. He only conceded 20 runs in 5 overs, among them 2 maiden overs.
Nuwan Pradeep Fernando – 6/10
Coming off a horrific match, Fernando was under a lot of pressure to perform in the decider. He responded well as he only conceded 10 runs in the 3 overs he bowled.