Fernando, Wellalage guide SL to rare ODI series win over India

SRI LANKAN players pose with the series trophy after winning the third and final One-day International against India at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday.—AFP

COLOMBO: Avishka Fernando scored a superb 96 and Dunith Wellalage took five wickets as Sri Lanka thumped India by 110 runs in Colombo on Wednesday to seal a first bilateral One-day International series win over their south Asian neighbours in 27 years.

Faced with a tricky victory target of 249 to draw level at 1-1, India never built any momentum after losing their two most experienced batsmen in skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as they folded for a disappointing 138 in 26.1 overs.

Wellalage had Sharma caught behind for 35 after the Indian captain went on the attack early on and the spinner then trapped Kohli lbw for 20, with India unable to arrest their slide from there at the R Premadasa Stadium.

“I’m a happy captain right now and I think the team did all the things well throughout the series,” said Sri Lankan skipper Charith Asalanka.

“We knew they have a very strong batting line-up and we just wanted to back our strength and our strength is spin bowling. We backed our spinners and they did (the job).”

Axar Patel and Shreyas Iyer also fell victim to Wellalage, who finished with figures of 5-27 after getting rid of last man Kuldeep Yadav. Washington Sundar mounted a late fightback for India with a well-made 30 but his effort was in vain.

The opening ODI finished in a dramatic tie, before Sri Lanka secured a 32-run victory in the second game. India had swept the preceding Twenty20 series 3-0 in new head coach Gautam Gambhir’s first assignment in the role.

Rohit said that his team’s struggles against spin were not a concern yet but needed to be addressed.

“It’s something that we were put under pressure with in this series. It’s something we need to look into, talk about and come up with a plan,” Rohit said.

He bristled at a question about complacency within the team and said such a suggestion was a joke.

“When you’re playing for India, there’s no complacency. As long as I’m here captaining the team that’s not going to be the case,” Rohit added.

“We were outplayed throughout the series. You’ve got to give credit where it’s due. Sri Lanka played better cricket than us.”

Sri Lanka opted to bat first after winning the toss and made a solid start in their quest to claim a first ODI series triumph over India since 1997 as openers Pathum Nissanka and Fernando strung together an 89-run partnership.

The hosts shrugged off Nissanka’s dismissal by Axar for 45 in the 20th over as Fernando and Kusal Mendis continued to build before Riyan Parag snapped their 82-run stand on his ODI debut and triggered a mini collapse.

Parag trapped Fernando lbw just short of his century with one that skidded off the wicket and then removed skipper Asalanka and Wellalage to reduce Sri Lanka to 199-6, but Mendis scored 59 to ensure the team finished with a fighting 248-7.

Scoreboard

SRI LANKA:

P. Nissanka c Pant b Patel 45

A. Fernando lbw b Parag 96

K. Mendis c Gill b Yadav 59

C. Asalanka lbw b Parag 10

S. Samarawickrama lbw b Siraj 0

J. Liyanage b Sundar 8

D. Wellalage b Parag 2

KM. Mendis not out 23

M. Theekshana not out 3

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-1) 2

TOTAL (for seven wickets, 50 overs) 248

DID NOT BAT: J. Vandersay, AM. Fernando

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-89 (Nissanka), 2-171 (A. Fernando), 3-183 (Asalanka), 4-184 (Samarawickrama), 5-196 (Liyanage), 6-199 (Wellalage), 7-235 (KM. Mendis)

BOWLING: Siraj 9-0-78-1, Dube 4-0-9-0, Patel 10-1-41-1, Sundar 8-1-29-1, Yadav 10-0-36-1, Parag 9-0-54-3 (1w)

INDIA:

R. Sharma c K. Mendis b Wellalage 35

S. Gill b AM Fernando 6

V. Kohli lbw b Wellalage 20

R. Pant st K. Mendis b Theekshana 6

S. Iyer lbw b Wellalage 8

A. Patel b Wellalage 2

R. Parag b Vandersay 15

S. Dube lbw b Vandersay 9

W. Sundar c Vandersay b Theekshana 30

K. Yadav lbw b Wellalage 6