The tour to Sri Lanka just keeps getting better and better for India as they ended up winning the final ODI of the series as well. Sri Lanka’s misery didn’t end and once again, they were run over by the mighty Indian side. Again, the Indian bowlers restricted the opposition and again, the Indian batsmen chased it down with the utmost comfort.
It was as if a replay of the previous matches was shown only with the change in personnel. In place of Bumrah, it was Bhuvneshwar who bagged 5 wickets and in place of Rohit, it was Kohli whose hundred sailed India home.
Bhuvneshwar’s comeback
Upul Tharanga, who made a comeback after serving the suspension of 2 ODIs, won the toss and elected to bat first. Bhuvneshwar Kumar hadn’t picked up any wickets in the series and was rested for the last game. He made a terrific comeback and removed the opener Niroshan Dickwella for just 2.
Very soon, he went on to remove Dilshan Munaweera for just 4. The skipper Tharanga then began the counter-attack and went after Shardul Thakur. The score reached 59/2 after 9 overs and the left-hander seemed like running away with the game. But as it happened throughout the series, Jasprit Bumrah halted the opponent’s progress by removing Tharanga for 48 off 34 balls.
A slow partnership
Lahiru Thirimanne and Angelo Mathews then got together and began to solidify the innings. After 15 overs, the score read 88/3 and the scoring was pretty good thus far. But in the process of providing the stability, the duo took too many deliveries.
The credit to keep a check on the scoring would go to the two wrist spinners – Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. The duo dried up the boundaries and restricted the batsmen to just singles. Thirimanne and Mathews added 122 runs for the 4th wicket but consumed 177 deliveries for that.
When the time came to up the ante, both perished in quick successions. Bhuvneshwar accounted for Thirimanne’s wicket for 67 and Kuldeep dismissed Mathews for 55. It was all downhill from there and one by one, all the other batsmen kept following each other back to the pavilion.
Bhuvneshwar ended with 5 wickets for 42 runs as Sri Lanka were bowled out for just 238 in 49.4 overs.Bumrah took 2 wickets and took his tally to 15 in the series. The 2 wrist spinners picked up a wicket each as well.
The early scare
Ajinkya Rahane, who was in for Shikhar Dhawan who had to travel back to India to attend her ailing mother, looked out of touch from the beginning. He could score just 5 runs off 17 balls and his stay at the crease was ended by a perfectly bowled bouncer by Lasith Malinga.
Rohit Sharma, who had scored back to back centuries in the last 2 games. was looking in a good form once again. But he tried to play a cheeky scoop and was caught at short fine-leg by Malinda Pushpakumara off the bowling of Vishwa Fernando. India were reduced to 29/2 after 7.3 that gave the belief to the home side.
Kohli and his love for chase
But it was an Indian chase and the Indian skipper was there again, a love story that just doesn’t seem like ending soon. Virat Kohli was cautious at the start and found an able partner in the form of Manish Pandey. They bailed the side out of trouble and stitched together a lovely partnership.
Kohli brought up his fifty in the 23rd over off 53 balls and kept knocking the runs down. Both were at ease and Pandey too looked in a good nick. But he got carried away and a slog sweep off Pushpakumara landed into the hands of the mid-wicket fielder and he had to walk back for 36 off 53 balls as a partnership of 99 ended.
But it didn’t bother Kohli and he kept going at it in his usual manner. Kedar Jadhav supported him beautifully as the hopes of a Sri Lankan comeback kept diminishing. The required run-rate was always under control and the batsmen were not hurried at any stage.
Jadhav got to his fifty in the 41st over and Kohli reached his 30th ODI century in the 43rd over. The partnership of 109 runs took India close to the victory until Jadhav departed for 63. MS Dhoni had to come in when just 2 runs were required. Kohli hit the winning run and took the side past the line and also handed them a clean sweep of 5-0. Kohli stayed unbeaten at 110 off 116 balls.
Match Summary
Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first
Sri Lanka:Â 238/10 in 49.4 overs
Lahiru Thirimanne 67, Angelo Mathews 55
Bhuvneshwar Kumar 42/5, Jasprit Bumrah 45/2
India:Â 239/4 in 46.3 overs
Virat Kohli 110*, Kedar Jadhav 63
Wanidu Hasaranga 29/1, Lasith Malinga 35/1
India won by 6 wickets
Player of the Match:Â Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Player of the Series:Â Jasprit Bumrah
