IND v SL 2017: Kuldeep Yadav credits his twin strike for changing the game in 3rd ODI

Kuldeep dismissed the dangerous Upul Tharanga and Niroshan Dickwella.

Kuldeep Yadav won the Man of the match in the final ODI against SL | AP

India defeated Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in the 3rd ODI at Vizag to win the 3 match ODI series 2-1. Rohit Sharma led the Indian team fight back after losing the first ODI in humiliating fashion.

The third ODI was going the same way, as Sri Lanka was running away with the game with 130 odd runs for the loss of one wicket. Upul Tharanga had just carted Hardik Pandya for 5 fours in an over and Rohit Sharma turned to his spin twins to do some magic and they did.

Kuldeep Yadav started the rout by dismissing Upul Tharanga for 95, out stumped to MS Dhoni and then removed the dangerous Niroshan Dickwella in the 28th over. His twin strikes turned the tide in India’s favor as Sri Lanka were 160/2 before the start of Kuldeep’s over.

"Obviously their batsmen were set and we knew we needed wickets in the middle overs. I got two wickets in one over and that really changed the momentum for us," Kuldeep said after the match.

"The wicket was very good for spinners, we were getting turn and sharp turn as well and that really motivated me to do well. I worked on my lengths as well. It's just preparation that matters. Whenever you don't play you practice and work hard on your fitness and fielding, when you get a chance you try and put up your best performance," he said.

Even captain Rohit Sharma praised Chahal and Kuldeep.

He said, "When you have bowlers like that in your side, the job becomes very easy for the captain. You throw the ball and they get you wickets all the time. Whenever we were put into the tough situations, we responded well. We played as a team more than anything else. Everyone knew what they needed to do as an individual to win the series and they perfectly did that."

"I am very proud of the boys. I think the first game was a bit testing as a captain, because we didn't put enough runs on the board, and in the second game since we had lot of runs I had the luxury to try out a few things. It was a perfect game for me to settle in. And today was a perfect game," he continued.

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 18 Dec, 2017

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