Visakhapatnam: India rode on a strong bowling performance to restrict Sri Lanka to 215 runs in the third and final One-Day International (ODI) here on Sunday.
Spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal did most of the damage by taking three wickets each. Yadav returned figures of 3/42 off his 10 overs while Chahal conceded 46 runs for his three wickets.
Hardik Pandya notched up figures of 2/49 while fellow pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah picked up a wicket each.
Upul Tharanga was the highest scorer for the visitors with 95 runs off 82 balls. The left-hander’s 36th ODI half-century was studded with 12 boundaries and three hits into the stands.
Sadeera Samarawickrama gave him excellent support from the other end, scoring 42 runs off 57 deliveries, hitting five boundaries along the way.
Asked to bat first by the hosts, most of the Sri Lankan batsmen virtually gifted away their wickets with some poor stroke making as their hopes of recording a first bilateral series win in India took a big hit.
The visitors suffered an early blow when opener Danushka Gunathilaka was caught at mid-on by Rohit Sharma in the fourth over while trying to go after Jasprit Bumrah.
However, the visitors staged a strong comeback with Upul Tharanga and Sadeera Samarawickrama adding 121 runs between them.
The two of them batted comfortably to set Sri Lanka up for a big total. Tharanga took a particular liking to Hardik Pandya, smashing the pacer for five consecutive boundaries in the ninth over.
But just when it seemed that the duo might help the visitors run away with the game, Yuzvendra Chahal removed Samarawickrama to give India a much needed breakthrough.
Tharanga was also dismissed shortly afterwards when Mahendra Singh Dhoni showcased a glimpse of his still lightning quick reflexes to stump the left-hander off Kuldeep Yadav’s bowling.
That virtually signalled an end to Sri Lanka’s will to fight as they lost wickets at regular intervals with the rest of their batsmen guilty of some atrocious shot selection.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka: 215 in 44.5 overs (Upul Tharanga 95, Kuldeep Yadav 3/42, Yuzvendra Chahal 3/46) vs India.
