SL VS IND - 3rd ODI, India tour of Sri Lanka, 2024

It was a great start for the Surya-Gambhir era but not so much for the Rohit-Gambhir pair. The level of cricket went downwards after the first game; they kept conceding more runs and scoring less. The application of batters on such pitches will be an area of concern. But they will not have to worry about it soon as India are not scheduled to play another ODI this year as of now. As for Sri Lanka, they were swept aside in the T20s and even embarrassed in the final T20I but they came back strongly in this format. That first ODI which they tied proved to be the catalyst as they kept improving with each game and this was their best of the lot. With the way the players and crowd reacted to this win it seemed like a long night of celebrations awaits them. That's all from this tour. Hope you enjoyed our coverage. Until next time, goodbye and stay safe..

Asalanka takes the trophy and walks over to his team mates waiting for him behind a CHAMPIONS banner. He hands it over to Asitha Fernando and the rest pose for the cameras.

Charith Asalanka: I am a happy captain right now. The team did all things right throughout the series. We all knew they are a strong batting line up and we wanted to back our strength, spin was our strength and we backed it. They are in a good mood right now and our coach (Sanath Jayasuriya) is very active. The boys really enjoyed the team environment.

Rohit Sharma: I don't think it is a concern (spin problems). But it is something we have to look at individually and as a gameplan. It is a joke, when you are playing for India there is never going to be complacency. When I am captain there is no chance of that. But you have to give credit to good cricket. Sri Lanka played better than us. We looked at the conditions and went with the combinations, there are also guys who need to be looked at and hence the changes. There are a lot of areas we need to look at rather than the positives from this series because we need to be better prepared when we come across such conditions next time. These things happen, series loss is not the end of the world, you will lose an odd series here and there but it is about how you come back after the loss.

Dunith Wellalage | Player of the Series: I want to thank my skipper, team mates and coaching staff. Everyone gave me great support and that's why I am here. We adjusted to the wicket as it was turning. It was same like the first two ODIs and committed less mistakes today. The batters did a good job and then the spinners bowled well. Everyone is supporting each other and I am excited to be part of the team.

Avishka Fernando | Player of the Match: Very happy with the innings. The batters got together and did a good job. It was a challenging wicket and a bit disappointed not to get a hundred but happy with the win. (translated from Sinhalese by Roshan Abeysinghe)

Stats by Deepu Narayanan

27 wickets lost by India to spin is the most by any team in a bilateral ODI series (Max 3 matches).

Dunith Wellalage is the first spinner to take five wickets in an ODI against India on more than one occasion
5/40 at Colombo RPS 2023
5/27 at Colombo RPS 2024

Most wickets lost to spin by India in an ODI
10 vs SL Colombo RPS 2023
9 vs Colombo RPS 1997
9 vs SL Colombo RPS 2024 (1st ODI)
9 vs SL Colombo RPS 2024 (2nd ODI)
9 vs SL Colombo RPS 2024 (today) *
All five instances have come against Sri Lanka at Colombo RPS and four happened in their last five meetings at the venue.

Maheesh Theekshana: For me, it's a confidence-booster as a team. We lost the T20 series 3-0. The whole team was disappointed and we took it as a motivation. Very happy to play the last game and win the series after 1997. It's a huge victory for us and I am really proud to be part of the XI. They (India) usually play on good wickets and small boundaries in India. We knew playing in Premadasa, if there's little bit turn, we can take advantage because we have good spinners. Even in domestic, the wickets will be like this and our batters know how to play. When we were batting first, we thought that the wicket would be much better than the first two wickets. We had to bowl more good deliveries than the last couple of matches. Rohit came into bat and he attacked me, Asitha got a good start, came back and got Shubman and then Wellalage was brilliant, Vandersay did a great job ... Hasaranga in the first game, Akila bowled economically in both the games. I wanted to bowl more dot balls. It was a team effort. All the players contributed, that's why we ended up winning 2-0.

20:21 Local Time, 14:51 GMT, 20:21 IST: Sri Lanka's spinners have clinched a famous victory for their nation. But what was India's plan today? They knew it would be trial by spin going by the trend in the first two ODIs and their plan was to be aggressive. That did not work. Rohit once again got them off to a flying start but unlike the first two games where he batted through the powerplay, he succumbed inside it and the procession started thereafter. The Indian batters had no clue against the spinners especially Wellalage who picked up the key wickets of Rohit, Kohli, Iyer and Axar in his first spell and came back to complete his 5-fer. The highest partnership for India came between Washington Sundar and Kuldeep which gives you a fair idea on how things went. They failed to the trial by spin and conceded their first series to Sri Lanka in 27 years. Hang around for the presentations..

Wellalage to Kuldeep Yadav, out Lbw!! Sri Lanka win by 110 runs. This is a historic win for them. First time they have beaten India in a bilateral ODI series since 1997. The fans are jumping in joy, the team management is delighted and the players are pumped. This has been a proper drubbing. Coming to the wicket: This looked like a harsh call from umpire Joel Wilson. Wellalage, bowling from round the wicket, gets it to drift across, Kuldeep misses the sweep and is struck in front of off-stump. The angle would have taken it past off-stump but Wilson had a long thought and gave it in favour of Sri Lanka. Ball-tracking shows the impact to be umpire's call and wickets missing. Kuldeep was unlucky that he didn't have any reviews to use. Kuldeep Yadav lbw b Wellalage 6(30)

Wellalage to Kuldeep Yadav, THATS OUT!! Lbw!!

Dunith Wellalage [5.0-0-27-4] is back into the attack

Mohammed Siraj, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Theekshana to Washington Sundar, out Caught by Vandersay!! Sundar holes out playing the big shot. Second wicket for Theekshana and Sri Lanka are one wicket away. Flighted and the ball drifts on leg-stump, straightens a tad and that's what foils Sundar's attempted loft, he gets it off the outer half and the ball skies towards long-off. Vandersay comes across and almost shells it, the ball pops up and he takes it on the second attempt. Washington Sundar c Vandersay b Theekshana 30(25) [4s-2 6s-3]

Theekshana to Washington Sundar, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Theekshana to Washington Sundar, no run, appeal for a caught behind. They were so confident in their appeal but no review is taken. Flat-line on UltraEdge. Short and turning away, Sundar reaches for the cut and misses it

Theekshana to Washington Sundar, no run, uhhh! Sundar wanted to go across the line and almost pays the price. Sees the flighted delivery and wanted to go over long-on or deep mid, the ball spins away and beats his swinging blade. The ball bounces over off-stump