| Sri Lanka innings (toss: Sri Lanka, who chose to bat first) | |||||
| Batsman | Dismissal | Runs scored | 4s | 6s | Strike rate |
| N Dickwella | leg before wicket Bumrah | 13 (15) | 2 | 0 | 86.66 |
| D Chandimal | caught Bumrah, bowled Pandya | 36 (71) | 4 | 0 | 50.70 |
| K Mendis | caught Rohit, bowled Bumrah | 1 (10) | 0 | 0 | 10.00 |
| L Thirimanne | caught Jadhav, bowled Bumrah | 80 (105) | 5 | 1 | 76.19 |
| A Mathews | leg before wicket Jadhav | 11 (23) | 1 | 0 | 47.82 |
| C Kapugedera | bowled Axar | 14 (22) | 1 | 0 | 63.63 |
| M Siriwardana | bowled Bumrah | 29 (27) | 4 | 0 | 107.40 |
| A Dananjaya | bowled Bumrah | 2 (6) | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| D Chameera | run out by Dhoni/Bhuvneshwar | 6 (10) | 1 | 0 | 60.00 |
| V Fernando | not out | 5 (6) | 0 | 0 | 83.33 |
| L Malinga | not out | 1 (5) | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| Extras: 19 (8 wides, 7 leg byes and 4 byes) | |||||
| SL’s total: 217/9 in 50 overs, at 4.34 runs per over | |||||
| Fall of wickets: 18/1 (Dickwella, 3.4), 28/2 (Mendis, 7.4), 100/3 (Chandimal, 25.4), 138/4 (Mathews, 34.4), 159/5 (Thirimanne, 39.3), 181/6 (Kapugedera, 43.6), 191/7 (Dananjaya, 45.5), 201/8 (Siriwardana, 47.4), and 210/9 (Chameera, 48.4) | |||||
| India bowling | |||||
| Bowlers | Overs | Maidens | Runs conceded | Wickets taken | Economy rate |
| B Kumar | 9 | 2 | 41 | 0 | 4.55 |
| J Bumrah | 10 | 2 | 27 | 5 | 2.70 |
| Y Chahal | 10 | 0 | 49 | 0 | 4.90 |
| H Pandya | 8 | 0 | 42 | 1 | 5.25 |
| A Patel | 10 | 1 | 35 | 1 | 3.50 |
| K Jadhav | 3 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 4.00 |
| India innings (target: 218 runs in 50 overs, at 4.36 runs per over) | |||||
| Batsman | Dismissal | Runs scored | 4s | 6s | Strike rate |
| R Sharma | not out | 124 (145) | 16 | 2 | 85.51 |
| S Dhawan | bowled Malinga | 5 (3) | 1 | 0 | 166.66 |
| V Kohli | caught Chameera, bowled Fernando | 3 (11) | 0 | 0 | 27.27 |
| L Rahul | caught Thirimanne, bowled Dananjaya | 17 (24) | 2 | 0 | 70.83 |
| K Jadhav | leg before wicket Dananjaya | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| MS Dhoni | not out | 67 (86) | 4 | 1 | 77.90 |
| Batsmen who didn’t bat: Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, and Yuzvendra Chahal | |||||
| Extras: 2 (1 wide and 1 leg bye) | |||||
| India’s total: 218/4 in 45.1 overs, at 4.82 runs per over | |||||
| Fall of wickets: 9/1 (Dhawan, 2.1), 19/2 (Kohli, 5.1), 61/3 (Rahul, 13.5), and 61/4 (Jadhav, 15.1) | |||||
| Sri Lanka bowling | |||||
| Bowlers | Overs | Maidens | Runs conceded | Wickets taken | Economy rate |
| L Malinga | 5 | 0 | 25 | 1 | 5.00 |
| V Fernando | 8.1 | 2 | 35 | 1 | 4.28 |
| D Chameera | 10 | 1 | 59 | 0 | 5.90 |
| A Mathews | 3 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 5.67 |
| A Dananjaya | 10 | 0 | 38 | 2 | 3.80 |
| M Siriwardana | 9 | 0 | 43 | 0 | 4.77 |
Sri Lanka vs India 3rd ODI match report
Rohit Sharma anchored India’s chase of 218 with a classy century (his 12th in ODI cricket), after his fellow opener and the other top order batsmen had fallen cheaply and left India struggling at 61/4 in the 16th over. But joining hands with MS Dhoni, who had anchored the chase of 231 three nights ago and did so here as well with a calm and composed 67*, Rohit played the situation and the Sri Lankan bowling perfectly, to take India home by six wickets. Jasprit Bumrah was awarded the man-of-the-match for his spell of 10-2-27-5. By winning the 3rd ODI, Team India have taken an unassailable 0-3 lead in this five-ODI series.
Defending only 217, Sri Lanka needed early wickets and they did get them through their opening bowlers, Lasith Malinga and Vishwa Fernando. Shikhar Dhawan (5) chopped Malinga onto his stumps in the third over of the innings and Virat Kohli flicked a half-volley on his pads from Fernando to fine-leg in the sixth over, leaving India in a trouble of sorts at 19/2. Lokesh Rahul, batting at No. 4, began tentatively and in reality, was put to a real test by all the Sri Lankan bowlers, including the man who had his number on Thursday (Akila Dananjaya). And just when he seemed to have gotten into his groove and be feeling good, he hit a rank short ball from Dananjaya down deep mid-wicket’s throat, falling for a 24-ball 17. Kedar Jadhav batted just one position (No. 5) ahead of what his natural position is and with an opportunity to completely silence his critics with an innings of substance, he played a high-risk shot (a sweep against the spin) against Dananjaya and was this time trapped in front for a second successive duck.
At this point, Sri Lanka were in an utterly dominant position. However, because they were defending only 217, the hosts could ill-afford to let India build one substantial partnership. They also needed one more wicket, despite taking four, to gain a proper foothold. But they failed in both these pivotal aspects and whatever control they had on the match started to slip slowly.
Dhoni began really slowly and he was extra cautious against Dananjaya. Rohit had settled in, but the situation demanded him to be circumspect. He was for a couple of overs, before starting to display his repertoire of exquisite shots. All the Sri Lankan bowlers had bowled well in their first spells, but returning for their second spells, the discipline was missing and Rohit, in particular, was proactive and pounced on the loose deliveries. Rohit was in immaculate touch on this night and he ensured that he made the good touch count.
One of the impressive aspects of Rohit’s innings was his discipline, apart from the shots he played. A lot of times, we have seen him be reckless and throw his wicket away. But here, he was sensible and though he put the loose deliveries away and found the boundary nonchalantly on numerous occasions, not once was he reckless. India benefitted from having Rohit in the middle because being the boundary hitter he is, he ensured that his team relieved themselves of the pressure they were under from having lost wickets in a cluster.
At one stage in his partnership with Dhoni, Rohit had contributed 41 of the 50 runs and had more than 60% of the team’s runs (78 runs of team’s 125) as well. But Dhoni didn’t get stagnant following a slow start and picked up the pace of his innings for his own and the team’s good. India, riding on the Rohit-Dhoni partnership, slowly started eating into the target and once they saw off the initial venom of Dananjaya, in particular, they were on their way to securing an unassailable lead in this series.
Rohit Sharma went on to make his 12th ODI century, which he brought up on the 118th delivery he faced. He finished unbeaten on 124 off 145 balls, an innings punctuated by 16 fours and two sixes. At the other end, Dhoni made his 65th half-century, finishing unbeaten on 67* off 86 balls (4×4 and 1×6). These two put together 157 runs (180) for the fifth wicket, to guide India home by six wickets.
Looking at Sri Lanka’s batting performance in the 3rd ODI, you will not have been wrong to wonder if India’s bowling was extraordinary or the hosts didn’t have any firepower in their batting line-up. And for the third consecutive time in this series, they failed to post a score of 250 or more—this time having won the toss and chosen to bat first—in conditions that were more batsman-friendly than vice-versa. They managed to score only 217/9 in 50 overs, with Lahiru Thirimanne top-scoring with a 105-ball 80 (5×4 and 1×6).
The likes of Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews, who can be destructive batsmen, failed to show any intent to score runs and the mere occupying of the crease didn’t do them or their team any good whatsoever. Mendis played 10 balls for one run; Chandimal, the replacement for the suspended captain Upul Tharanga, played 71 balls for his 36 runs, and Mathews played nearly four overs (23 balls, precisely) and scored 11 runs. As a result of this indifferent batsmanship and the regular loss of wickets, the Sri Lankan innings never prospered and the projected targets were constantly on the decline.
Chandimal and Thirimanne shared a 72-run third-wicket partnership and when this duo were in the middle, Sri Lanka looked capable of reaching 250 at least. Thirimanne looked the most accomplished of all the batsmen in the line-up. Unlike the other Sri Lankan batsmen, he neither had trouble in rotating the strike nor finding the boundary, and through his 105-ball 80, he held the Lankan innings together.
Chandimal was struck on his right thumb by a Hardik Pandya bouncer and while a blow as this can wake up a batsman and transform the pace of his innings, this innings of Chandimal was one-paced throughout. This thumb injury only slowed his innings further and he has now been ruled out of the rest of this series due to a fractured right thumb. Milinda Siriwardana played a decent cameo at No. 7, scoring 29 off 27 balls and playing quite an important role in the Lankan Lions posting a score close to 220.
India’s bowlers weren’t really challenged by the Sri Lankan batsmen, but each one of them had reasons to be pleased with his effort. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was unfortunate with the misfields off his bowling and his figures were affected as a result, finishing with 0/41 off 9 overs; Jasprit Bumrah was by far the best bowler, bowling the right channel and being accurate to finish with 5/27; Hardik Pandya was expensive in his first half-a-dozen overs but bowled measly his seventh and eighth overs, and also took the wicket of Chandimal, to finish with 1/42 off eight overs; Kedar Jadhav (Angelo Mathews) and Axar Patel (Chamara Kapugedera) were the other wicket-takers for India.