Team India once again come out on top as they beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets as Virat Kohli scored his 30th ODI century equaling Australia’s former skipper Ricky Ponting’s record. Kedar Jadhav supported him in the innings scoring his first fifty on the tour and helping India whitewash Sri Lanka without breaking a sweat. He scored 63 before getting out when India needed just 2 runs to win. MS Dhoni came out to bat but he did not finish in style with a six and gave Kohli the strike who did it with grace as India won by 6 wickets with 22 balls to spare.
Kohli also equaled the number of centuries scored against Sri Lanka by former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. Manish Pandey got out for 36 after providing Kohli support from the other end after openers Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane fell early during the first powerplay overs.
Sri Lanka repeated what they did throughout the ODI series. They lost early wickets despite skipper Upul Tharanga leading from the front. Niroshan Dickwella and Dilshan Munaweera could not score in two digits as the faltered yet again. Tharanga missed out on his 50. But, Lahiru Thirimanne and Angelo Mathews took charge of the innings and managed to put on a partnership of 124 for the fourth wicket.
Thirimanne scored 67 and Mathews scored 55. Both the batsmen lost their wickets when the team needed them to accelerate. They went on to suffer from another batting collapse and bundled out for 238 in the final over posting a less than ordinary total on the board.
— Virat Kohli (@Cricvids1) September 3, 2017
— Virat Kohli (@Cricvids1) September 3, 2017
5-0! #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/LiBggvqi0L
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 3, 2017
The only interesting events were from India’s side as MS Dhoni completed his record 100th ODI stumping and Bhuvneshwar Kumar taking his maiden five-wicket haul in ODIs.
Sri Lanka struggled in the ODI series right from the start. The first ODI was a one-sided affair. The second ODI gained popularity and marked the comeback of Sri Lanka with Akila Dananjaya taking 6 wickets, but MS Dhoni and Bhuvneshwar Kumar kept their nerves and guided India home. The third ODI saw Indian batting order has a few hiccups but it was a safe journey in the end. The rest of the two ODIs were once again one-sided affairs as Team India kept on dominating.
