Player of the Match
Player of the Match

END OF OVER:
50 | 2 Runs | SL: 251/8 (142 runs required, RR: 5.02)

  • Suranga Lakmal11 (22b)
  • Angelo Mathews111 (132b)
  • Shreyas Iyer1-0-2-0
  • Bhuvneshwar Kumar9-0-40-1

7.43pm Phew, what a day. A tiring day for Rohit, who scored 208*, but that's nothing compared to the effort of typing as many words as Deiva and I have typed, in this concentrated span of time. I am off to rest my aching fingers now. Hope you enjoyed our coverage, and do keep coming back. Until next time, good night!

Rohit Sharma: "It was a great day. Winning the game was important for me and the team after that loss in Dharamsala. I can keep talking about the batting that we did today, right from the start, with Shikhar giving us a brilliant start, and Shreyas Iyer - it didn't look like he was only playing his second ODI. There was dew later, so it was important to get that big total. If I'm not wrong, the first 100 I got were around the 38th, 39th over, so I was telling myself, if I get that far, I'm not going to get out. I was only looking to keep my shape and hit through the line. It was the same thing I did in my first two 200s. I started off pretty slow then too. Very difficult to pick one. All three came at crucial times. 264 is obviously very close to me. I've said it many times, but I honestly cannot pick one. The Australia one was a decider, the Sri Lanka 264 - I came back after a three-month layoff after a big injury, and this one also - after a humiliating loss, we wanted to come back as a team, as a batting unit especially. I'm happy [my wife] is here with me on this special day. I know she would have liked this gift from me. She's been my strength, she's always been there for me. You go through so much stress in this sport, and having them around is always special. This is our second anniversary, but more than that, we won the game. We were determined to do the right things in the middle, and right till the end we did that. As a group we're looking forward to [Vizag]. The conditions will be different, and again we have to adapt and play to our strengths. Not the ideal conditions for [Washington] to bowl, but this is how he will learn. He showed promise, and he has shown it before too, in the IPL. We want to back young players like Washington, we don't want to put too much pressure on them. I'm sure he must have learned a lot from this game, bowling with the wet ball and so on, and I wish him all the luck."

Thisara Perera: "Unfortunately our bowling didn't click. Especially Rohit batted really well. That is cricket. We will take positives from this match and flush out the negatives. We had a Plan A and B and C as well - it didn't click. That's why I said Rohit batted really well. If we want to chase this kind of score, we need a good start, and middle order as well. Both parts didn't click, but Angelo did well in the batting part. We will come back well in the third ODI."

Shikhar Dhawan: "I was happy with my flow today. Would have loved to continue, but I really enjoyed my game today and gave my team a good start. We also thought it was going to be a bit more damp. It was coming a bit slow, but I still knew I could play my shots and disturb the bowlers' line and length, which helped me as well as Rohit to go a long way. I knew, because their strength was to bowl on one good area - they have been bowling to me at 5th or 6th stump on a length where I cannot cut or drive - so I tried to step out to disturb their length. It's a bit of a risk, but I enjoy taking risks. At the start, Rohit took his time, and then later on he started hitting boundaries. Once I was out, I knew he was going to score a big innings. Hats off to him, the way he has played, and three double-centuries is a big thing."

"It has been a good day for India in cricket, but will it be the same in badminton? Head over to www.espn.in to catch live updates from the Dubai Superseries Finals, where PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth are both in action."

Chintan : "I thought seven double hundreds have been scored!!! Sachin, Sehwag, Guptill, Gayle and Sharma (3)." -- Small miscalculation on my part :)

Vishal: "This was the 8th ODI double century. Don't forget the one by Belinda Clark. " -- Yes, yes. Apologies.

7.21pm This match ended as a contest at least two hours ago, but if India were looking for an early finish, Angelo Mathews has denied them with a stubborn hundred. These things count. But what a day for India, and what a day, especially, for Rohit Gurunath Sharma. There have only been six seven double-hundreds in the history of men's ODI cricket, and this man has scored three of them. Should the commentators award someone else Player of the Match, just for laughs?

49.6
0
Iyer to Lakmal, no run, another good-length ball, on off stump, defended back towards the bowler and Lakmal will end this not out.
49.5
0
Iyer to Lakmal, no run, lbw appeal as Lakmal presses forward to defend and plays outside the line, playing for turn. Not out, says Paul Reiffel, and India don't review. Looked quite close to me
49.4
1
Iyer to Mathews, 1 run, nice length again, wider outside off, driven to long-off
49.3
0
Iyer to Mathews, no run, another well-pitched legbreak on middle stump, slides on with the angle. Blocked back to the bowler
49.2
1
Iyer to Lakmal, 1 run, back of a length now, goes back to whip it wristily to long-on
49.1
0
Iyer to Lakmal, no run, good ball to start, flighted and lands on a good length close to off stump. Presses forward to late-cut, but it turns less than expected and hits pad flap before bat

The last over will be bowled by... Shreyas Iyer! He bowls legbreaks, presumably.

END OF OVER:
49 | 3 Runs | SL: 249/8 (144 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 5.08, RRR: 144.00)

  • Angelo Mathews110 (130b)
  • Suranga Lakmal10 (18b)
  • Bhuvneshwar Kumar9-0-40-1
  • Washington Sundar10-0-65-1
48.6
0
Kumar to Mathews, no run, bouncer over off stump, bounces loopily to Dhoni after Mathews shapes to pull before deciding to leave
48.5
0
Kumar to Mathews, no run, back of a length, close to off stump, defended back to the bowler
48.4
1
Kumar to Lakmal, 1 run, bouncer over off stump, and he's extremely early on this pull. Hits the cue-end of his bat and rolls down to long-on. Looked like a knuckleball bouncer, which must take some serious skill to bowl

SL in INDIA 2017-18 News

Changing gears

341

Rohit's strike rate in his last 27 balls, in which he scored 92 runs (11 sixes, 3 fours). In his first 126 balls, he scored 116

Bad day at the office

106

Runs conceded by Nuwan Pradeep, which equals the third-highest in ODI history. Only Mick Lewis (113) and Wahab Riaz (110) have conceded more, while Bhuvneshwar has also leaked 106

A century of triples

100

Totals of 300 or more for India in ODIs, the most by any team. Australia are next with 96 scores of 300 or more

Double No. 3

3

No. of double-centuries by Rohit Sharma in ODIs. All other players combined have hit only 4 double-tons in ODI history.

Bumper year

2000

Last time an Indian opener scoring 6 or more ODI 100s in a year, before Rohit Sharma this year. Ganguly was the last and Tendulkar is the only other such Indian opener (1996 & 1998).

Adding big

9

No. of century opening partnerships for India in ODIs this year. India openers have converted 9 of the 10 50+ stands into 100+ stands. No other team has had more than 3 such pships.

Good to chase

4-0

Win-loss record of teams chasing in Mohali in the last four ODIs since the completion of 2011 World Cup. Sri Lanka have elected to field first in this match.

Young Sundar

6

No. of players to make ODI debut for India at a younger age than Washington Sundar (18 years, 69 days) who makes his debut in this game. He's the youngest for India since Parthiv Patel in 2003.