Sri Lanka’s new ODI skipper Thisara Perera won another important toss in the overcast conditions in Mohali and asked the men in blue to bat again. However, his decision became way too costly, as India went on to make 392/4 with Rohit Sharma scoring his 3rd ODI double hundred.
India made one change in teh squad for the game with Washington Sundar coming in to replace wrist spinner, Kuldeep Yadav. Rohit stole the show with his flamboyant innings of 208* off just 153 balls.
Team India started on a slow note as they just at 33/0 after the 10 overs, but after that Shikhar Dhawan started changing gears and crossed the 100-run mark in the 20th over. However, he was dismissed at 115, 3 runs more than the Team India’s total score in Dharamsala.
Then came the Shreyas Iyer, who made his debut in Dharamsala, went on to score his maiden ODI fifty but got dismissed at a personal score of 88 off just 70 deliveries. Rohit along with Iyer made a 2nd wicket partnership of 215 runs and made sure that India ends up with a huge total on the board.
After Iyer’s dismissal, Rohit’s quest to his 3rd double hundred started as he needed around 40 runs at that point of the game and he completed teh milestone in teh last over of the innings.
It is also the wedding anniversary of Rohit and his wife Ritika today and after completing his century he also blew a kiss to her after completing the century as the anniversary gift.
When Sri Lanka came down to chase the mammoth total of 392, they had a brisk start but a couple of quick wickets from the Indian quicks lowered down their run-rate and then Team India went on to seal the game.
The Lankans were never in the chase and they succumbed to the ‘scoreboard pressure’. However, Angelo Mathews showed some resistance with his 111* and helped his team to get 251 runs from their 50 overs.
Yuzvendra Chahal was the pick of the bowlers for the men in blue as he picked up three wickets. Debutant off-spinner Washington Sundar picked up his maiden wicket when he clean bowled Lahiru Thirimanne. The Islanders somehow managed to save the pride by not getting bundled out during the chase.
Brief Scores
India: 392 for 4 (Rohit 208*, Iyer 88, Dhawan 68) defeated Sri Lanka: 251 for 8 (Mathews 111*, Gunaratne 34, Chahal 3-60) by 141 runs
