Sri Lanka vs India, 3rd ODI, Who said What: Cricketing World reacts as India clinches the ODI series by 3-0
The third ODI between India and Sri Lanka was an entertaining encounter right from the beginning of the match.
Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat first. After the early dismissals of N Dickwella and BKG Mendis, the Sri Lankan team struggled to gain momentum. However, Thirimanne's 80 and Chandimal's steady 36 helped the Islanders in putting up a decent total of 217 runs on the scoreboard despite the interruption by the rain.
Jasprit Bumrah's maiden five-wicket haul proved to be a nightmare for the hosts. Despite few misfields, Sri Lanka was successful in posting a target of 218 for Virat Kohli and Co. to chase.
India too suffered from major blows early on after losing their top-order batsmen including Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli quite early in the game. Indian opener Rohit Sharma, however, looked steady on the crease.
After the fall of the fourth wicket, however, Indian batsmen paved a smooth path towards the victory. Rohit Sharma scored a brilliant 124 runs off 145 balls. This is his 12th ODI century and the first in Sri Lanka. He also took his a splendid 100th ODI catch earlier today and dismissed BKG Mendis.
On the other end, MS Dhoni played a patient knock and the duo constructed a crucial partnership.
India won the match and clinched the series 3-0. Jasprit Bumrah's five-wicket haul was awarded the man of the match.
Proud skipper Kohli hailed the performance of his team and said, "Small targets are always tricky. If it happens to you two or three times (failure to chase the small targets down), I don't think it's an issue. People like to make issues out of it. We have chased small targets convincingly before.
"Here the wicket was a bit more challenging. The last game we had a collapse. Today wasn't a collapse. The other batsmen really applied themselves. Rohit was outstanding, MS was great as well. We have to be a bit patient with the younger players. Have to understand how to take our games forward."
Talking about Bumrah's performance he said, "He's (Bumrah) got 11 wickets in three games, he's bowled really well. Last game he missed out on a five-for, but he got it this time. He's among our top short-format bowlers. He's doing a great job for us, and I wish him all the best. We have a squad of 15, we'll look to give some of the other guys a go. Having won the series already, we can afford to give those guys a go."
Bumrah said, "It's always good when you get a break so you can work on your strengths and be refreshed when you come back. This was a different wicket. In the last match, it was slow, but in this match, there was seam movement with the new ball. Didn't know that (only Indian seamer to take a five-for in last three years) but it's a good feeling. When you contribute to the team's success, it's always a good feeling."
Here's how the Cricketing world reacted to India's outstanding victory over the hosts.