Chahal, Yadav helpindiaclinchseries Not fair to compare us with Ashwin and Jadeja, says Chahal ›
Spinners share six wickets before Shikhar’s unbeaten ton; hosts win 8th successive series
VISAKHAPATNAM: Shikhar Dhawan’s brilliant 12th century, combined with splendid bowling from Kuldeep Yadav (3/42) and Yuzvendra Chahal (3/46), helped India crush Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the deciding match of the three-odi series at the ACAVDCA stadium on Sunday. With this win, India clinched their eighth consecutive bilateral ODI series victory.
It was a clinical performance by Rohit Sharma’s side, which ensured that India not only won their ninth consecutive bilateral series against Sri Lanka, but also ended 2017 without a single series loss in bilateral contests. Chasing 216, India were jolted early when Akila Dananjaya bowled Rohit Sharma for seven with a googly.
Having lost the early wicket, Dhawan and Iyer played calmly. The left-hander broke the shackles by hammering Suranga Lakmal for two boundaries in the ninth over and this boosted Iyer’s confidence, who smashed Angelo Mathews for two boundaries in the 10th over.
Iyer notched up his second consecutive fifty off
44 balls by lofting Sachith
Pathirana over long on for a six.
Dhawan slogswept Dananjaya over deep
The ball to Mathews drifted in and turned away. He played the wrong line and was bowled. It was my ball of the match. YUZVENDRA CHAHAL, India spinner
mid wicket to bring up his fifty off 46 balls. The 135-run stand ended when Iyer (65) miscued a pull shot off Thisara Perera to be caught at mid on.
Dhawan held firm and brought up his 12th ton off 84 balls by sweeping Asela Gunaratne to deep square leg to guide India to a comprehensive victory. However, the win for India was set-up earlier by the dynamic legspin duo of Kuldeep Yadav (left-arm Chinaman) and Yuzvendra Chahal, who dented Sri Lanka after they started aggressively.
Put into bat, Sri Lanka came out all guns blazing. Upul Tharanga, in particular, batted superbly by hitting two consecutive boundaries off Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah. On 80, Tharanga lofted Chahal over long on to become the third player after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to go past 1000 runs in ODIS in 2017. At 160/2 in the 28th over, Sri Lanka were poised to reach a score in excess of 300. But Kuldeep changed the course of the match in the 28th over.
Dhoni’s brilliant stumping caught Tharanga short for 95 and the chinaman struck again in the same over by removing Niroshan Dickwella for 8. Sri Lanka sunk even further when Chahal got the massive wicket of Angelo Mathews for 17 by bowling him with a ripping legbreak.
Kuldeep and Chahal proceeded to slice through the middle and lower order as Sri Lanka lost eight wickets for 55 runs to be bowled out for 215.
The contributions from bowlers and batsmen at crucial times has been the key reason for India’s dominant run. VISAKHAPATNAM: Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav’s three wickets each in the final ODI played a big part in Sri Lanka collapsing from 160/2 to 215 all out. The legspinning duo’s contribution helped India clinch their eighth consecutive bilateral series win and it has led to comparisons of the duo with R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
However, speaking in the postmatch press conference, Chahal said the comparison with Ashwin and Jadeja was not right. “Ashwin and Jadeja have done so much in the last 5-6 years. We have played only for four-five series. If you start comparing , it will not be right. We have played most of our games in India, one series in Sri Lanka where conditions were similar to India. We have not played much overseas,” Chahal stated.
After getting rid of Upul Tharanga for 95, India were eyeing the key wicket of Angelo Mathews, who had scored a century in Mohali. The former Sri Lankan skipper was looking dangerous but on 17, Chahal sent him back with a ripping legbreak. Sri Lanka never recovered and the 27-year-old recalled the dismissal. “I was getting turn from the other end. I wanted to vary my pace. When you bowl flatter, the batsman thinks that the ball will not turn much. The ball to Mathews drifted in and turned away. He played down the wrong line and got bowled. It was the ball of the match for me,” Chahal said.
For all of India’s dominant run at home, the focus remains on the all-important tour to South Africa. Chahal said his focus remains on the upcoming threematch T20 series starting on December 20. “The wickets in SA will be good and flat but there will be some extra bounce. That is the plus point there. We have a break of a month after the T20I series. I have a habit of taking it one series at a time. I am not thinking about South Africa at all,” he said.