Mahela Jayawardene scored his 17th ODI ton and became the 5th player to surpass the magical 12,000 run-figure but it was not enough for the Lankans as they were once again beaten by 6 wickets in the 3rd ODI at Hyderabad as India took a 3-0 incontestable lead in the 5-match series.
After winning the 3rd consecutive toss, Angelo Mathews decided to bat first on an overcast afternoon. The visitors once again failed to lay a good foundation as Kusal Janith Perera was caught behind off a superb angling delivery in the final ball of the 1st over bowled by Umesh Yadav. He bowled a similar delivery in the very next ball he bowled and it took Kumar Sangakkara’s outside edge which was grasped by Ravi Ashwin in the 1st slip as Sri Lanka were restricted to 7/2 in the 3rd over. This was the 5th time Sangakkara was dismissed in the 1st ball.
Old cogs of Mahela Jayawardene and TM Dilshan joined hands perfectly to stroke 105 runs to help Sri Lanka recover. Dilshan wasn’t at his fluent best as he managed 53 off 80 balls. On the other hand, Jayawardene was slow to start with, but picked up pace as the innings progressed. The typical delicate touch was on offer as he played some great shots.
With Angelo Mathews and Jayawardene, the two in-form batsmen, in the middle, Sri Lanka decided to take the batting Power Play in the 31st over like in the 2nd ODI and that decision backfired once again as they only made 16 runs and lost three wickets of Mathews, Ashan Priyanjan and Chathuranga De Silva. The young left-arm spinner Akshar Patel was the wrecker-in-chief as he scalped those 3 wickets.
Sri Lanka were in danger of bowling out for less than 200 when big-hitting Thisara Perera was dismissed by Umesh Yadav as the struggling visitors were 158/7 with more than 13 overs left. Mahela continued his lone battle and towards the end, he managed to put up a good 8th wicket stand of 67 runs with Seekkuge Prasanna that took Sri Lanka to 242. Jayawardene got to his ton in style, by smashing one for a six over mid-wicket. He was stumped by Saha off Ashwin after a well-crafted 118 in 124 balls which consists 12 fours and a six. Seekuge chipped in with 29 in 32 balls.
Chasing 243 runs to win the series with 2 games left, India capitalized on their consistent opening pair of Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan who once again gave a formidable start putting up 62 runs for the 1st wicket before Rahane was finally scalped by Thisara Perera for 31 in the 12th over after the right-hander tried to fiddle with a rising delivery, giving away a simple catch to Mahela Jayawardene at first slip.
Dhawan carried on the good work along with last match centurion Ambati Rayudu as the duo stitched another 69-run partnership to put the hosts in a comfortable position. Ambati Rayudu came in and hit another fluent 35 before a mix-up resulted in his dismissal in the 25th over.
Dhawan scored runs fluently and he was authoritative in his stroke play as he did not let the bowlers get on top. Along with his skipper Virat Kohli, he dominated the bowling and took India close to victory. On 91, he was surprised by a short ball from Nuwan Kulasekara and was adjudged caught-behind. He smashed 91 off only 79 balls.
Kohli made 53 runs before being caught in the deep by Lahiru Gamage off TM Dilshan’s long hop. He became the fastest to 6,000 ODI runs in 136 innings in the history of the game and he went past the legend, Sir Viv Richards in the process. Wriddhiman Saha and Suresh Raina got their country safely to the victory target in the 45th over as another ruthless performance saw India overpowering the lackluster Sri Lanka by 6 wickets.
The next ODI between the two sides will be played at Kolkata on Thursday.
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