Sri Lanka beats India in a bilateral ODI series for the first time since 1997

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka ended a long drought of 27 years without beating India in a bilateral one-day international series when it surged to an emphatic 110-run win in the third and final match on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka won the series 2-0. It pulled off a thrilling tie in the first ODI before winning the second by 32 runs on spin-dominated pitches in Colombo.

India hadn’t lost a bilateral ODI series to Sri Lanka since 1997, but was bowled out for 138 in just 26.1 overs as left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage rocked the top-order with 5-27.

Opening batter Avishka Fernando had earlier missed out on a deserving century before getting dismissed for 96 as Sri Lanka posted its highest total of the series, 248-7, after captain Charith Asalanka won his third successive toss and chose to bat.

India routed Sri Lanka 3-0 in the preceding Twenty20 series, but the home team came back strongly in the 50-over format through some skillful bowling from its spinners in favorable home conditions.

“I’m a happy captain right now,” Asalanka said. “We all knew they (India) are a very strong batting lineup and we just wanted to back our strength, which is spin bowling.”

Asalanka read the wicket well and clipped the Indian run-chase through his spinners once fast bowler Asitha Fernando had Shubman Gill (6) clean bowled in the fifth over.

India captain Rohit Sharma briefly showed aggression with a punchy knock of 35 off 20 balls before Wellalage had him caught behind in his second over as Sharma aimed a big shot but got a thick outside edge.

Maheesh Theekshana, who returned to the playing XI after missing the second game, had Rishabh Pant stumped off a delivery that bounced away from the left-hander before Wellalage ran through the middle order that included the key wicket of Virat Kohli.

Kohli made an 18-ball 20 but played to the wrong line against the left-arm spinner’s delivery that hit him flush on the front pad. Kohli challenged the onfield umpire’s lbw decision but started walking back to the dressing room the moment he saw the replay on the giant screen and before the television umpire had ruled him out.

Wellalage clean bowled Axar Patel and trapped Shreyas Iyer lbw as India limped to 82-6 inside the first 13 overs.

Leg spinner Jeffrey Vandersay, who picked up a career-best six-wicket haul in the last game, also had success with two wickets. Debutant Riyan Parag misread a straight delivery from Vandersay and was clean bowled while offering no shot.

Wellalage finished the game by trapping Kuldeep Yadav leg before wicket.

Asalanka gave credit to head coach Sanath Jayasuriya for the memorable win.

“We are in a really good mood right now, especially our coach,” Asalanka said. “He made a few changes ... and the boys really enjoyed the team environment.”

Earlier, Avishka Fernando featured in two solid partnerships upfront before Sri Lanka’s middle order struggled to keep the momentum going for the third successive time in the series.

Fernando and opening partner Pathum Nissanka (45) dominated the pace of Mohammed Siraj (1-78) and shared an 89-run stand before Nissanka attempted an expansive slog sweep against Patel and top-edged an easy catch to Pant.

But Fernando kept accelerating with an 82-run partnership with Kusal Mendis, who made 59 off 82. India’s ploy to beef up its spin option paid off with Parag challenging the batters through his legspin and offspin skills as Sri Lanka lost five wickets for 28 runs.

Parag ignited the middle-order collapse by trapping Fernando and Asalanka lbw and finished the top-wicket taker for India with 3-54. Three other spinners Washington Sundar, Yadav and Patel also took one wicket each.

“We have to give credit where credit is due, Sri Lanka played better than us,” Sharma said.

“We need to go back and look at what we need to do when we come up against conditions like this. Series lost doesn’t mean the end of the world. These guys have been playing very well over the past few years, very consistent, you will lose the odd series.”

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