India beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets, win series 2-1: Match highlights

1953 hrs IST: Dinesh Karthik hits a boundary off Dananjaya and India win by eight wickets, 8th successive bilaterals series win for India. Shikhar Dhawan the man of the moment and the crowd goes up in “Rohit! Rohit!” chants as the skipper comes out to the ground. It has been quite a series win for India. Rohit Sharma stepped up in the second ODI, Shikhar Dhawan now in the third with an emphatic century. 

1947 hrs IST: Shikhar Dhawan gets his 12th ODI hundred! Dinesh Karthik gives Dhawan the strike in the 32nd over and the latter proceeds to hit Gunaratne for a four he is not able to get a hold on the next two and remains stuck on 96. The first of the two dot balls is called wide. Another dot and then a four to bring up the century. India within 2 runs of the target

1944 hrs IST: The game has now boiled down to whether Shikhar Dhawan can get to a century or not. India need 12 to win and Dhawan is on 92

1937 hrs IST: Gunathilaka bowling the 30th over, first ball goes for dot, and the second is dispatched for the six. The third then goes for a four. India are in a bit of a hurry it seems. Dhawan gets to 87

1931 hrs IST: Dhawan on 70, Karthik on 13 off 19 and the stadium is making an absolute din now. A quiet period in the game and India just ticking away the runs now.

1915 hrs IST: Dinesh Karthik has come in place of Iyer. Off the mark with a single. Sri Lanka appeal for run-out off the last ball of Pathiranna’s over, umpire goes upstairs, but the batsman has made his ground. In the middle of all this, Shikhar Dhawan gets to 4000 ODI runs, second fastest Indian to get there after Virat Kohli

1910 hrs IST: OUT! And Sri Lanka get a wicket. Shreyas Iyer tries to go big but is instead caught at mid on by Lakmal, Perera is the man with the wicket. Very poor timing from Iyer and he has practically thrown away an opportunity to make a century

1906 hrs IST: 17 runs off that Gunaratne over, India move to 148/1, need 68 to win off 168 balls.

1902 hrs IST: Asela Gunaratne into the attack, the first ball is a dot and the second is wide, the keeper misses it, and so it is five additional runs for India off no deliveries.

1854 hrs IST: Shikhar Dhawan brings up his fifty with an emphatic six. India are in cruise-mode now. Both players are well settled, the partnership is now over hundred. Akila Dananjaya gets some bandaging on his fingers in the middle of the 20th over, possibly to deal with the bruises that have come out of the hiding Sri Lanka are getting.

1844 hrs IST: India cruising along now, three runs off the 18th over and its drinks. India move to 109/1, needing 107 runs off 192 balls to win another ODI series. Shikhar Dhawan, for a change, has taken the back seat and Shreyas Iyer is playing the aggressor.

1836 hrs IST: Pathirana up next to bowl the 16th over, the first ball is dispatched by Iyer over long on for a six, the next two balls go for singles, the latter of which results in Iyer bringing up his second consecutive half century. He then hits Pathirana for a four and the last two balls go without runs. That 12 runs off this over, India need 112 to win off 203 

1831 hrs IST: Pradeep to Shreyas Iyer, a bouncer that comes up to the right-hander’s shoulder, Shreyas gets an upper cut and is almost taken at third man, it ends up going for four runs. It was a fantastic effort from Dananjaya, running to his right and making a dive in an attempt to reach the ball but it is for nothing

1821 hrs IST: Pathirana with a huge appeal for LBW against Shreyas Iyer, umpire not interested and Sri Lanka go for the review. There as no inside edge on it and ball tracker shows that it was over off and middle, the decision stays

1810 hrs IST: India reach 50 runs on the back of some classy strokes by Dhawan. He is clearly switching gears here. India 55/1 after 10 overs, need 161 more to win.

1800 hrs IST: It’s been a slow start for India. The home side has just scored 32 runs in 8 overs with a run rate of 4.00. But India does not need to worry about the run rate here. It is a small target and all they need to do is keep their wickets in tact.

1745 hrs IST: WICKET! Dhananjay strikes! Good captaincy from Mathews to give the new ball to off-spinner. He saw what happened in the first innings and the turn Kuldeep and Chahal were getting. Rohit Sharma departs on 7 after hitting a massive six. IND 14/1

1740 hrs IST: Akila Dhananjay is here with the new ball in the second over. Sri Lanka clearly spin will do the trick for them.

1730 hrs IST: Here we start with Indian innings. Rohit Sharma comes out to open with Shikhar Dhawan. Suranga Lakmal is on the ball. India need 216 to win.

1700 hrs IST: WICKET! Bhuvneshwar Kumar gets the final wicket and ends Sri Lanka’s resistance. SL all out for 215. India need 216 to win the bilateral series.

1645 hrs IST: It’s a solid defensive work from Asela Gunaratne and Nuwan Pradeep in the middle. Sri Lanka are trying hard to play out full 50 overs. But the boundaries have dried up and Sri Lanka are not adding too many runs to the total.v What total will India have to chase?

1630 hrs IST: WICKET! Hardik Pandya gets another one here. What a delivery. Struck on the pads and was clearly hitting the middle stump. Suranga Lakmal doesn’t even think about taking a review. SL 211/9.

1627 hrs IST: WICKET! Kuldeep Yadav gets his third wicket of the match. It’s Akila Dhananjay who departs. Tries to play a sweep and the ball went on to hit the stumps. Sri Lanka 210/8.

1620 hrs IST: WICKET! Hardik Pandya gets a wicket. He’s had tough time in the middle today and it is welcome reward for him. Terrible shot selection from Sachith Pathirana and he departs on 7. Sri Lanka are on the verge of a collapse here. SL 208/7

1600 hrs IST: WICKET! ANd another one bites the dust. Chahal gets the captain this time. It’s Thisara Perera out on 6. SL are really struggling now at 197/6

Yuzvendra Chahal looks a Proper leg spinner …. #INDvSL

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) December 17, 2017

1557 hrs IST: WICKET! Angelo Mathews is gone and it took an absolute ripper of a delivery from Chahal to send him back. BIG WICKET for India. SL 189/5

1550 hrs IST: FOUR! Angelo Mathews, who scored a century in the second ODI, is starting to take charge here againt the seam bowlers. He smacks Bumrah for a boundary straight down the ground. Welcome boundary for Sri Lanka.

1540 hrs IST: Sri Lanka has gone on from 136/1 in 22 overs to 174/4 in 30 overs. It is the spinners who have done the job for India here in Vizag.

1527 hrs IST: WICKET! And another one for the chinaman. Niroshan Dickwella departs after scoring two boundaries. He is gone on 8. Simple catch in slips. Sri lanka are giving away a good start here. SL 168/4 in 28 overs

1525 hrs IST: WICKET! Upul Tharanga is gone here! Some lightning quick work by MS Dhoni behind the stumps. He misses out on his 100 by just 5 runs. SL 164/3

1505 hrs IST: WICKET! Yuzvendra Chahal gets his man. The ball takes a late turn. Samarawickrama gets a top edge and gives away a simple catch at third man to Shikhar Dhawan. He departs on 42. SL 136/2

1452 hrs IST: 20 overs have been bowled and Sri Lanka are 122 for 1. Chahal to continue for India but he has failed to take a wicket or control the run flow. Sadeera on strike

1448 hrs IST: Dropped! A drop at short mid-wicket by Rohit Sharma. Sadeera stepped out and tried to play it over him but it hit the outstretched hand of Rohit. Survives!

1438 hrs IST: 100 up for Sri Lanka at the end of the 17th over. Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal bowling in tandem. India need a wicket now!

1433 hrs IST: Sri Lanka have looked absolutely dominant in Visakhapatnam after the early wicket of Gunathilaka. After 15 overs, they are 89 for 1

1425 hrs IST: Tharanga and Sadeera have calmed down a bit after the powerplay. Left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav to bowl the 14th over. India desperately need a wicket here

1418 hrs IST: FIFTY! Upul Tharanga showing his class here. He has reached his 36th career half-century in ODIs off just 36 balls. The dressing room appluads!

1410 hrs IST: He finishes with five fours in that over as the last delivery is a dot ball. Tharanga takes 20 runs in that over. Pandya under pressure now. Brilliant stroke-making!

1408 hrs IST: Four fours off the first four deliveries of the Pandya over. Tharanga has raced to 44 off 31 deliveries. Can he make it six fours off six balls?

1405 hrs IST: Maiden over by Jasprit Bumrah and Sri Lanka are 45 for 1 after eight overs. Hardik Pandya, who replaced Bhuvneshwar for the seventh over, will continue

1400 hrs IST: Tharanga is dominating the bowlers. Some poor bowling as well from India but Tharanga has put away the loose balls to the boundary!

1351 hrs IST: Tharanga really punished Bhuvneshwar in that over. Sri Lanka are 30 for 1 after five overs. Tharanga and Sadeera at the crease for them.

1344 hrs IST: WICKET! Jasprit Bumrah gives India the breakthrough. Gunathilaka tried to hit it too hard but his bat twists in his hands. Travels straight to mid-on where Rohit Sharma takes decent catch. Gunathilaka was in no control of that shot.

1338 hrs IST: Two overs gone and it has been a nice start. The series decider in Visakhapatnam will be a close affair as conditions here are very different from Dharamsala and Mohali

1330 hrs IST: HERE WE GO! Upul Tharanga and Danushka Gunathilaka come out to bat and it’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar with the ball.

1300 hrs IST: TOSS: Rohit Sharma has won the toss and India will bowl first. Washington Sundar is sick and will not take the field, he is replaced by Kuldeep Yadav. For Sri Lanka, Lahiru Thirimanne is replaced by Sadeera Samarawickrama.

Rohit Sharma at the toss: We are gonna bowl first here. Good conditions, will be hot initially but as the day goes on, climate gets better. Keeping the dew factor in mind, we want to chase.

Has the double ton sunk in? It has finally. Was a great day for me and Team India as well. The win was important to stay in the competition. So in those circumstances, I would rate the knock highly. Was a good win, everyone chipped in nicely. We hope to do the same here in Vizag as well.

Team’s turnaround in Mohali: I keep saying that this team has a lot of character and has often taken responsibility in tough situations. We were put under pressure in the first game and responded well in the second. The message was to go out there and have fun.

1255 hrs IST: This pitch has helped spinners in the past so expect Kuldeep Yadav to come in to the side in place of Washington Sundar. Here is the pitch report as well: I am licking my lips, this is such a good batting wicket. It’s quite hard and looks beautiful to bat on. You have to bat well though. The bowlers will get good pace and bounce with the new ball. It should get easier to bat later on. The surface shouldn’t change much over the 100 overs despite the cracks because under lights, the surface will hold well, says Sunil Gavaskar alongside Russel Arnold.

1245 hrs IST: Approaching toss in Visakhapatnam. Players warming up…

1230 hrs IST: Hello and Good Afternoon for our live coverage of India and Sri Lanka series which has reached the decisive point in the ODI series with Visakhapatnam playing host. Following a shock defeat in Dharamsala, India steadied themselves and launched themselves in Mohali. Visakhapatnam offers chance to keep that going to extend India’s dominance at home and over Sri Lanka. For the islanders, though, it poses a challenge of how they turn things around after that hammering in Mohali. Moreover, they’ve not won an ODI series this year and to get it against India would be a major confidence booster.

TEAMS: 

India XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, MS Dhoni (w), Hardik Pandya, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal

Sri Lanka XI: Danushka Gunathilaka, Upul Tharanga, Angelo Mathews, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Niroshan Dickwella (w), Asela Gunaratne, Thisara Perera (c), Sachith Pathirana, Akila Dananjaya, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep