India vs Sri Lanka 2017, 2nd ODI: Hits and misses

Once again, cricket proved to be a great leveller as hosts India defeated Sri Lanka by 141 runs on Wednesday, to remain alive in the three-match ODI series.

Put in to bat, Rohit Sharma & Co. turned the tables at Mohali, as they toyed with the Sri Lankan bowling attack to put 392/4 on the board in 50 overs.

The 300-plus total at the PCA stadium was India’s 100th in ODIs and the Men in Blue became the first team to achieve the feat.

The series now stands even at 1-1 with India and Sri Lanka winning one match each. The third and deciding ODI will be played at Visakhapatnam on Sunday.

Now, let's have a look at the players who fought against all odds to deliver and those who crumbled under the pressure and failed.

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Miss: Suranga Lakmal

The Sri Lankan pacer went on from hero to zero in a matter of three days as he gave away 71 runs in 8 overs and remained wicketless at Mohali on Wednesday.

The visitors had a lot of expectations from their strike bowler Suranga Lakmal, who recorded his career-best figures of 4-13 and cleaned up India for 112 in 38.2 overs at Dharamshala.

Although the conditions were different at the PCA stadium, Thisara Perera was depending on Lakmal to make the most of the new ball and recreate his magical spell that ripped through India's batting order in the first ODI.

When nothing else worked, the clearly frustrated fast-bowler tried to deceive Rohit Sharma by bowling low full tosses, but the Indian skipper added insult to injury by hitting four sixes to get 26 runs off the 44th over, Lakmal's 8th and last of the match.

Miss: Thisara Perera

All the factors that worked for Thisara Perera and his team in Dharamshala, backfired in Mohali.

Just like the series opener, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to field first, but, it turned out to be an unlucky decision by the visiting captain as Rohit Sharma along with his batting mates came out all guns blazing after the humiliation on Sunday.

Although Perera got wickets of Shreyas Iyer, MS Dhoni, and Hardik Pandya, the skipper was looted for 80 runs in his 8 overs as India amassed 392 in their full quota of 50.

Perera, who is an all-rounder, with a strike rate of 108.26 in the ODIs, faltered as a batsman as well as he failed to lend a helping hand to Angelo Mathews, who was fighting a lone battle for Sri Lanka on the other end.

Hit: Angelo Mathews

The most experienced player in this inexperienced Sri Lankan side, Angelo Mathews, put up another fighting performance as he top-scored for the visitors with 111* in Mohali.

Mathews, who struck in his first over to remove Shikhar Dhawan in Dharamshala but could not be among thewickets in Mohali, contributed with the bat in the second ODI.

Sri Lanka were chasing a mountain of runs and Mathews continued to hold the fort for the visitors and tried to take them as close to India's target as possible.

No other Sri Lankan batsman displayed the spirit shown by Mathews and in the end, the visitors fell short by 141 runs and a valiant effort by the 30-year-old all-rounder went in vain.

Hit: Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer, who is the 219th ODI player to represent India, had a forgettable debut, when he scored nine off 27 balls, in Dharamshala on Sunday.

However, the top-order batsman from Mumbai was quick to make amends.

Playing his second fifty-over game for India, the 23-year-old scored 88 off 70 balls to bring up his maiden ODI half-century.

Shreyas, who came in as a replacement for Virat Kohli at number three, stitched a bosker 213-run second-wicket partnership with skipper Rohit Sharma, which was instrumental in India's mammoth total of 392/4 in 50 overs.

Hit: Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma, who made a nightmarish debut as India skipper on Sunday, turned the tide in his favour, three days later, by playing a Homeric inning of 208* to lead the Men in Blue to a colossal total of 392/4 in 50 overs at Mohali.

Cricket is all about learning from your past mistakes and Rohit took lessons from the embarrassment in Dharamshala and led from the front as he became the second captain after Virender Sehwag (219) to score a double ton in the history of cricket.

The Hitman's inning was studded with 13 fours and 12 sixes as he became the first man to hit three double hundred in ODI cricket.

Fitting innings to notch up his first win as a captain!