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:

Sri Lanka's Danushka Gunathilaka

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.

Kuldeep Yadav was sensational in Visakhapatnam

Rohit Sharma – 4/10

As a captain, Rohit couldn’t ask for anything more, as the team performed splendidly. All his strategies worked to perfection, especially when Sri Lanka was cruising to a big total as they made a good comeback to restrict the opposition to 215.

However, the skipper didn’t have the best time with the bat, especially after the spectacular double century. He smashed a six off Dananjaya and got bowled soon after that by the same bowler.

Shikhar Dhawan – 9.5/10

‘Gabbar’ was arguably the best batsman in the match because of his match-winning innings. He played exquisite and elegant shots throughout his innings and continued his form from the last match to bring up a brilliant match-winning century.

Apart from this, he also formed a crucial 100 run partnership with Shreyas Iyer. In the field, he was involved in taking the important catch of Samarawickrama. Overall, the Indian opener had a perfect match and will look forward to carrying his form to the T20 series.

Shreyas Iyer – 8/10

The newcomer filled in perfectly at the crucial number 3 position. He built an amazing 100 run partnership with Shikhar Dhawan. He added 65 runs to the partnership in just 63 balls at a good strike rate of 103. He played sensibly throughout and would’ve hoped to finish the innings along with Dhawan. He would’ve been under a lot of pressure as he was replacing Virat Kohli in the squad, Iyer accepted the challenge and proved to be a great selection.

Dinesh Karthik -7/10

Dinesh Karthik is under a lot of pressure to perform as the team is facing a middle order conundrum. His spot is in jeopardy as a massive chunk of batsmen are fighting for the two positions. Keeping that in mind, Karthik played well today for his unbeaten 26 that included some elegant shots to the boundary. On the field, apart from the dropped chance early on, he had a decent outing.

Manish Pandey – N/A

MS Dhoni – 6/10

Despite not getting an opportunity to bat, Dhoni's love affair with Vizag continued in this match as well, as he proved to be one of the best behind the wickets. His quick hands were effective yet again as he stumped the in-form and dangerous Upul Tharanga.

He also caught a good catch to dismiss Gunaratne off Bhuvaneshwar Kumar’s bowling. He would’ve wanted to bat in Vizag and the crowd definitely wanted Dhoni to come on to bat.

Hardik Pandya – 6/10

The all-rounder didn’t have the best first half of the game as he conceded 42 runs in the first 6 overs he bowled. Pandya was hit for 5 consecutive fours in a single over by Upul Tharanga, however, after the fall of the top and middle order, he came on to bowl and only conceded 7 runs in his last 4 overs and also took 2 wickets towards the end.

Being the fifth bowler for the team, Pandya might have to add some variations to his bowling arsenal.

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar – 5.5/10

Definitely not the best performance by the opening bowler, he conceded 35 runs in almost 7 overs. However, he couldn't take any key wickets at the start of the innings but ended up finishing the Sri Lankan innings by dismissing Gunaratne.

Kuldeep Yadav - 9.5/10

The chinaman was exceptional in this match as he took three wickets: including the dangerous Tharanga and Dickwella. He troubled all the batsmen he went against and only conceded 42 runs in 10 overs. Kuldeep definitely deserved the man of the match for his breathtaking performance.

Yuzvendra Chahal - 9/10

Similarly to Yadav, Chahal was amazing with the ball as he took 3 good wickets. He got the breakthrough of the massive partnership by acquiring the wicket of Samarawickrama. The legspinner also removed the dangerous Sri Lankan captain, Perera and only conceded 46 runs in 10 overs.

Jasprit Bumrah - 7.5/10

Bumrah bowled fabulously throughout the innings. He took the first wicket of the Sri Lankan batting lineup and continued to trouble the batsmen the entire innings.