All the predictions proved to be right as India gained an unassailable lead by winning the 3rd ODI in a row. Where the first innings of Sri Lanka belonged to Jasprit Bumrah’s five-for, the second innings was all about the master class of Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni.
The stand-in captain Chamara Kapugedera won the toss and Sri Lanka opted to bat first. Their start wasn’t pretty good as Jasprit Bumrah picked 2 wickets inside 10 overs. Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne shared a fifty-run partnership but the slow scoring rate didn’t help their cause as they reached just 100 in the 26th over.
Thirimanne scored 80 but there were very little contributions from other batsmen. In the hunt to score quick runs, Sri Lanka kept losing wickets in clusters. Bumrah went on to bag his maiden five wicket haul in ODIs and became the first Indian bowler to achieve the feat since 2014 when Stuart Binny took 6 wickets against Bangladesh. Sri Lanka were halted to a paltry 217/9 and once again, failed to score big.
In reply, India lost Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli early and were in a spot of bother at 19/2. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul steadied the ship with a stand of 42 runs. Akila Dananjaya came into the attack and removed Rahul and Kedar Jadhav in quick succession. At 61/4, the daemons of the 2nd ODI began to hover over India again.
But MS Dhoni brought calmness to the proceedings and allowed Rohit to flourish at the other end. Rohit brought up his 12th ODI century and Dhoni reached his 65th ODI fifty. When 8 runs were required by India, the crowd intervened and threw bottles on the ground.
The match was halted and the players were taken off. After removing the troublemakers, the players came back and India completed the formality. A magnificent partnership of 157 runs gave India a win by 6 wickets and with that, the series as well.
Here are the best tweets that appeared through the course of the match
A great way to win the series! Superb performance by @Jaspritbumrah93, ImRo45 and @msdhoni! Keep up the winning streak boys! #IndvsSL
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) August 27, 2017
https://twitter.com/VVSLaxman281/status/901857931452227584
Rohit Sharma makes batting look so easy.Class.Congratulations to @msdhoni for becoming the 4th highest run getter for India in ODI's #INDvSL
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) August 27, 2017
https://twitter.com/Catalan_RajAT/status/901838199479189504
Someday, when Mahendra SIngh Dhoni hangs up his boots, we'll look back on days like these and feel a part of us dying within. #INDvSL
— Pratik (@fake_engineer7) August 27, 2017
https://twitter.com/Dhruveshharsola/status/901861514004488192
Angry Sri Lankan fans are throwing bottles at their players in the stadium and Vinod Kambli has started crying in his drawing room.#INDvSL
— The Lying Lama 2.0 (@KyaUkhaadLega) August 27, 2017
Speaking of Dhoni, it's two-on-two for him. Both the games, your middle-order turned hopeless till @msdhoni came along as the glue. #INDvSL
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) August 27, 2017
He may not be as explosive as before yet there is no one better than @msdhoni in these tricky low scoring chases. #INDvSL #SLvIND
— Shubham Khare (@shubhamkhare71) August 27, 2017
Dhoni sleeping on the ground is going to be a memorable picture. Job done, let's take a nap and utilize this moment. #INDvSL #IndvsSL pic.twitter.com/SJOru5dYQ1
— Mr Shivam Shukla (@MrShivamShukla) August 27, 2017
The legacy of death bowling has been transferred from Malinga to @Jaspritbumrah93 #IndvsSL #SLvIND
— Shubham Khare (@shubhamkhare71) August 27, 2017
Ok, so there are silly people everywhere. But we need to get a move on. Security just watching people throw bottles. Doing nothing.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 27, 2017
Once again the definition of calm. @msdhoni walks into a tense situation and defuses it.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 27, 2017
https://twitter.com/nitishsharma812/status/901807964427653120
https://twitter.com/Sttuddss/status/901797402176143360
https://twitter.com/akdot319/status/901803938202230784
https://twitter.com/syedhussain_/status/901805662010712064
https://twitter.com/WaraichShahbaz/status/901805801177702400
Virat Kohli’s last 8 inns chasing in ODIs:
3
4
82*
111*
3
5
96*
76*Out in single digits or unbeaten 75+ scores.
Big or nothing!#SlvIND
— Aditya Warty (@AnalystAdi) August 27, 2017
Best Bowling Figures in Sri Lanka by Indian bowlers
6/59 A Nehra
5/27 JASPRIT BUMRAH**
5/56 H Singh
5/61 I Pathan#SLvIND #INDvSL— Thomas Jo (@straight_edge24) August 27, 2017
Virat Kohli can't concentrate on cricket because his Guru Gurmeet #RamRahimSingh Insane is in jail. #IndvsSL pic.twitter.com/KUhpX5m3TD
— Gautam Trivedi (@KaptanHindustan) August 27, 2017
SL must be very disappointed at not converting decent middle overs- What's lagging is the confidence even in some of the seniors #IndvsSL
— Kapalee (@Kapalee) August 27, 2017
Other teams are bz in making of 200 in T-20, and there Sri Lanka who are struggling for 200 in ODI.@BCCI @ICC #IndvsSL
— Tush'r Dhule (@ImTushr7) August 27, 2017