Visakhapatnam: An in-form Indian side would be the clear favourites when they take in Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI of the series on Sunday in Visakhapatnam. The three-match series is tied at 1-1.
In Dharamsala, it was just an odd day for the Indian batsmen as the team could only muster 112 runs batting first. But in Mohali, it was a completely different story as led by stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma, the team produced a brilliant display with the willow as they ended up posting a mammoth 392/4 in the first innings, virtually batting Sri Lanka out of the game. Led by the right-hander who scored his third double hundred, the hosts completely dominated proceedings in the match and never really let the Sri Lankans make a comeback.
Barring a fighting hundred from forner skipper Angelo Mathews, Sri Lanka didn’t have anything positive to take away from the match as with the ball, their main bowlers conceded a lot of runs and a poor batting display followed as they fell 141 runs short of the massive Indian total.
The track in Visakhapatnam is expected to be spin friendly as the last time these two teams faced off at the venue, it was Ravichandran Ashwin’s masterclass with the ball that had got the better of them. Although the Tamil Nadu off-spinner isn’t with the team this time around, the Indians have more than able performers in Yuzvendra Chahal bans Kuldeep Yadav who have done remarkably well in recent times.
It would be interesting to see as to how the visitors perform after the poor show in Mohali.