Visakhapatnam: Shikhar Dhawan cruised his way to a magnificent hundred as India outclassed Sri Lanka by eight wickets in Visakhapatnam to win the third and final ODI, thereby winning the series 2-1.
The southpaw was at his attacking best as he not only got to his 12th Test hundred but also crossed the 4,000 run mark in ODIs, in 95 innings. This was the second fastest in Indian cricket, after Virat Kohli had achieved the feat in 93 innings.
He stitched a match-winning 135-run stand with newbie Shreyas Iyer, who scored a brilliant 65-his second consecutive fifty-plus score in the series. After his dismissal, it was Dinesh Karthik, who joined Dhawan at the crease and their 70-run partnership helped India overhaul the Sri Lankan total of 215 and ease to a win in just 32.1 overs.
Batting first, the visitors didn’t get the best of starts with Danushka Gunathilaka falling early for just 13. But it was a belligerent 95 from veteran Upul Tharanga and 42 from Sadeera Samarawickrama that resurrected the Sri Lankan innings and at one point of time, it looked as if they would end up with a huge total.
But leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal had other plans in mind as sent back Samarawickrama, thereby ending the 121-run stand. He then bolwed a gem of a delivery to get rid of former skipper Angelo Mathews for just 17 as the Lankan innings looked to falter once again.
Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, playing after a while made his presence felt as he scalped three wickets and conceding just 42 runs, being the pick of the bowlers. His spin bowling partner also took three wickets, giving away 46 runs.
The duo destroyed the Sri Lankan batting line-up and restricted them to a meagre 215.
Brief scores-
India 219/2 (Shikhar Dhawan 100 n.o, Shreyas Iyer 65; Thisara Perera 1/25) beat Sri Lanka 215 all out in 44.5 overs (Upul Tharanga 95, Sadeera Samarawickrama 42; Kuldeep Yadav 3/42) by 8 wickets