India won the three-match ODI series 3-0 on Sunday after crushing Sri Lanka by a record 317 runs in the third match.
India destroyed a naive Sri Lanka with a record 317-run triumph in the third ODI to sweep the series here on Sunday. Virat Kohli lit up the dead rubber with an impressive 166 not out, his third century in four innings. Kohli (166 not out off 110) powered India to a formidable 390 for five with his 74th international hundred and 46th in the 50-over format, following a smooth 95-run opening combination between captain Rohit Sharma (42 off 49) and Shubman Gill (116 off 97). Mohammad Siraj’s high-quality quick bowling bowled Sri Lanka out of the match in just 10 overs. Siraj struck four times in those overs.
Sri Lanka’s dismal score of 73 runs after 22 overs shows just how far ahead their opponents were.
The run difference between the winning and losing teams was the largest in men’s ODIs.
King Kohli had a resoundingly successful night. After nearly three years without an international hundred, the 34-year-old finally scored one in last year’s Asia Cup, proving that he has returned to his dominant form.
Kohli needs just three more ODI hundreds to tie Sachin Tendulkar’s record. It took Tendulkar 452 innings to reach 49 hundred, so Kohli’s conversion ratio is impressive.
Gill had played some great strokes on his way to his second ODI hundred before Kohli took over. With that performance, he vindicated the team’s decision to start him at the opening despite the presence of Ishan Kishan, who had scored two hundred prior to this series.
India’s innings were kicked off by a 23-run over from Lahiru Kumara. Gill smashed four consecutive boundaries off Kumara, three on the offside, and one a leg-side flick off a full delivery, after Rohit had hit him for six over deep mid-wicket with a flick.
At the other end, Rohit was also looking solid until he was thrown out while attempting one of his trademark shots, the front foot pull.
The Sri Lankan bowlers had little success against Gill and Kohli throughout their 131-run partnership.
Kohli hit a flurry of boundaries to start the innings and then racked up runs with his superb work on the field. In the 1980s, he hit his first of eight sixes, a mishit over long on that left him laughing.
He reached 99 after a collision between Ashen Bandara and Jeffrey Vandersay, who was chasing the ball from deep square leg and deep midwicket, respectively. Both fielders needed to be carried off the field on stretchers.
When Kohli reached 100, he went crazy, and India scored 116 runs in the final 10 overs. His sixes began to fall like manna from heaven once he reached the landmark, and one over long on had shades of MS Dhoni’s helicopter shot, which made Kohli grin widely. He hit many of his home runs in the cow corner.
Sri Lanka never really got going in the chase as a response to India’s massive score. In the second over of their innings, Siraj had Avishka Fernando caught at widish slip. After then, Siraj led the top players in a procession.
Both Mohammad Shami and Kuldeep Yadav contributed by taking two wickets each.
